Won't Back Down
by windycloudcakes
Summary: Set in the Tree Hill police department...the gang make up a team of the best crime fighters in the city. Can the rookie, Haley, keep up with her more experienced co-workers? Pairings are Jeyton, Brucas, and eventually Naley!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! So I am back with another story... I was completely inspired by Hawaii 5-0 for this one, but it is all OTH! It will eventually become a Naley story, so you have that to look forward to right? I hope that you like it, however I am uber busy right now and won't be able to update as often as I would like. I will do my best to set aside time to write at least once a week. I also love those writers that give previews to those who review their stories, so I may start doing that. Please let me know what you think of this story... I am looking forward to writing more so I just need to stop being so busy, haha. Enjoy your day or night, or morning, depending on when you read this :)**

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Nathan Scott sat at his desk, typing away, and taking advantage of the momentary silence throughout the police station. He and his partner were currently between cases and he was catching up on some paper work.

"Nate!" He heard from across the room. "Hey."

"Luke, was yelling necessary? I mean the station is quiet after all." Nathan asked his partner. He and Lucas Roe have been partners for about two years now. Nathan was transferred from Charlotte to the Tree Hill Police Department. He was new to Luke's hometown and Lucas, being the friendly guy that he is, took him under his wing right away. Their friendship was instantaneous and has only helped them crack cases.

"Is most of the stuff I do necessary? No, but it is fun to bug you." Luke joked.

"Whatever. Was there a specific reason for you to come see me or was it just to annoy me?"

"Nate, the case is finished, the paperwork will still be there tomorrow. Let's go out, play some ball, maybe get a beer."

"Yeah, fine that sounds good."

"Alright, that's what I like to hear. Besides, normal 23 year olds do not spend their Friday nights filling out paperwork. You gotta let loose."

"Luke, I let loose."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Besides, why do you care about the fact that I am sitting here on a Friday night?"

"Because, you are my best friend and I do not want you to be alone. Also, as my best friend our reputations coincide and if I am out partying while you are working it will even out to seem like we both just stayed home and watched TV."

"That is ridiculous."

"Ridiculous enough for you to just go with it?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Good, that's what I was hoping for because I have no idea what I just said."

Nathan just laughed and grabbed his coat before following Lucas out of the precinct. "Hey, let's just go get that beer. I'm not really in the mood to play ball right now." Nathan suggested.

"Sounds good to me. We both know that I would have won anyway."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself. So where are we going?"

"TRIC. Oh and I invited a few people."

"How did you know that I would agree to come hang out tonight?"

"I didn't, but I figured if you didn't I would have backup."

"Alright, thinking ahead. Who's going to be there?"

"Well there's Jake, Peyton, and Haley. Apparently Hales is bringing an old friend though so that makes six of us."

"Boyfriend?" Nathan asked.

"What?"

"You said Haley is bringing an old friend, is it a boyfriend?"

"I don't know. Why? Are you jealous?"

"What? No. Haley's a coworker. I mean she's a friend, but I'm not jealous. Gee Luke, way to jump to a conclusion there."

"Hey, I'm just saying. You were acting jealous. I call 'em like I see 'em."

"Whatever, can you just cool it?"

"Sure Nate, I can be cool." Luke said.

About 10 minutes later they arrived at the bar and walked up to the table with their coworkers. Jake and Haley are the remaining members of Nathan and Luke's team and Peyton is the morgue practitioner. They didn't recognize the other girl at the table, but Lucas wanted to change that.

"Nate, Luke, finally more testosterone at the table." Jake said and bumped fists with both of them. "What took you so long?"

"Well Nate was working." Luke answered.

"On Friday night while we had plans?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah, well I wanted to catch up on paperwork. Besides, I wasn't aware we had plans." Nathan said.

"Well, I'm glad you could join us, boss." Haley smiled. "Now both of you can meet my best friend. Nathan, Lucas this is Brooke Davis."

"Nice to meet you." Nathan said and shook her hand.

"Likewise." Brooke responded and smiled.

"Hi." Luke smiled.

"Hi." She replied. He sat down next to her and Nathan took the remaining seat between Jake and Haley.

Nathan noticed that Haley was smiling and, without thinking, smiled too. Haley James is something special. She is just starting out, but even though she is a rookie, Nathan knows that she's going to be great. She has a commanding presence and can get anyone to tell the truth.

"So, boss, what are you going to do tomorrow?" Haley asked Nathan, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, we still have the day off right?"

"Oh, yeah, we do. I don't really know what I'm going to do, probably just hang out and catch up on some sleep." He answered honestly. He doesn't get much sleep during cases and having just finished a case he needed some time to close his eyes and rest. "What are you going to do?"

"While sleeping sounds amazing, I'm jealous that you are doing that by the way, I am going to help Brooke move in. She just moved back here and I'm going to unpack with her." Haley answered.

"Not just you Hales. Luke here just offered to help me move in." Brooke smiled.

"Is that right?" Nathan asked, looking over at Luke.

"Yes. It is." Luke answered. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing is wrong with it, I just know you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That in the whole time we have been partners, the most you have done on a day off is drive to my apartment to watch a game and eat. Usually you stay home and do nothing." Nathan said, giving him a knowing look.

"Well, things change. Besides, I do more than that. Once, the group of us went to that big fancy party." Luke said and Nathan didn't even try to hide his smirk. It was obvious to everyone in the bar that Luke liked Brooke and Nathan was doing his best to bug him about it.

"Luke, that was part of a case." Jake said.

"Yeah, but Peyton was there too and she doesn't do field work." Lucas answered.

"She came as my date. Do you not remember this? We didn't want it to look like we were a bunch of bachelors hitting up a party so I went with Peyton and you went with Hales." Jake explained.

"Oh, yeah, that was a fun night." Luke said.

"Yeah, for you guys. You all got to hang out with each other while I had to go hit on cougars." Nathan grimaced. "Those old ladies are crazy too. They are not shy."

Luke just laughed at him while he visibly shook at the memory. "That is what you get when you are in charge of the group Nate. You have to do the hard stuff while we watch your back."

Nathan just shook again and groaned as everyone laughed.

"Isn't that the night you two got together?" Haley asked, looking at Peyton and Jake.

"Yeah. That was a good night." Jake grinned and Peyton just playfully rolled her eyes and shoved his shoulder.

"You guys are so entertaining." Brooke grinned. "You have no idea how excited I am to be here now. We are going to have so much fun!"

Everyone just laughed and nodded.

"You know, if we all help you unpack it would go so much faster." Haley suggested.

"I can't ask that of you guys. We just met." Brooke said.

"Technically you didn't ask, Haley just offered up our services." Peyton laughed. "Besides, we wouldn't mind helping out. Jake and I will be there for sure."

"Thanks guys. What about you Nate? You up for some heavy lifting?" Brooke asked.

"If I don't sleep through my alarm." He joked.

"Come on. I'll buy everyone lunch."

"Well if you put it that way. I'm not one to turn down free food." Nathan smiled.

"Speaking of free food, which one of you took the donut off my desk this morning?" Haley asked, looking at Nathan, Lucas, and Jake. Nathan and Jake both said that it wasn't them, but Lucas avoided eye contact.

"Luke! I went to file a paper, walked back and my donut was gone. I had been looking forward to my celebratory snack." Haley whined.

"Sorry, but it just looked so good. It was by the way." He replied.

"How about instead of a celebratory snack we have a toast." Nathan suggested and lifted his glass, watching as everyone else did the same. "Haley, congratulations on your arrest. It was a big break and I am proud to say that you made the final arrest. Good work team, but this one goes to Hales."

"To Haley!" They all said and drank.

"I must say that I was so happy to put that scumbag away. He was just so annoying, not to mention disgusting." Haley said.

"Seriously and he was hitting on you non-stop." Jake said.

"Hales, you know, I would have just looked the other way if you decided to 'accidentally' trip and hit his face." Nathan said, smiling.

"Why didn't you tell me that earlier?" She asked, smiling back at him.

"Wait, he had a huge bruise on his face though, how did that happen?" Peyton asked.

"Teamwork." Nathan said.

"Nathan was in pursuit, so I waited around the corner and tripped the perp. He face planted, it would have been hilarious if he hadn't been a criminal." Haley explained.

"Yeah, that took the funny right out of it and made it awesome." Lucas laughed.

They continued to laugh and tell stories until Peyton pulled Jake away to dance.

"Brooke, do you want to dance?" Luke asked.

"You dance?" She asked.

"Not normally, and not very well, but I can make an exception." He replied.

"Well, in that case, I would love to." She said and took his hand, leaving Haley and Nathan sitting at the table.

"This should be interesting." Nathan commented, laughing.

"What?" Haley asked.

"Have you seen Luke dance before?"

"No, why?"

"Wait for it." They sat there, watching and waiting until they could see Brooke and Luke dancing together. It took Haley a second to realize what Nathan was talking about. Lucas had a very unique way of dancing that was hard not to laugh at. So they both sat there, laughing, as they watched their friends dancing.

Once they'd calmed down a little, Nathan decided to start a conversation.

"So how long have you known Brooke?"

"Since we were in high school. I mean I guess we'd known each other since we were kids, but we became good friends our freshman year and it just stayed that way. We're BFFs."

Nathan just laughed.

"What?"

"BFFs?"

"Haha…yeah. Brooke and I always joke about that because we know we are going to be best friends forever and we want to sound cheesy."

"Well, you succeeded."

"Shut up." Haley laughed. "Like you and Luke don't say stupid stuff all the time."

"I don't, and I just laugh to make Luke think his stupid jokes are funny."

"Sure."

"Ok, fine I guess you caught me."

They shared a smile and went back to watching everyone dance.

"Alright, well if I am going to help Brooke move tomorrow, I think I am going to head home now. I need all the sleep I can get. Tell everyone I'll see them tomorrow. Oh, and Haley, have some fun and celebrate tonight. You deserve it." Nathan said, standing up and putting his jacket on.

"Thanks boss, I'll see you tomorrow." She smiled and watched him walk away. She turned back around to see everyone walking back to the table. "Hey guys, you looked like you were having fun, especially you Luke."

"You are just so funny." Luke said and went to his signature brooding face.

"Don't listen to her Broody. She is just jealous, besides I'm not complaining." Brooke said, winking at him.

"Broody?" Jake, Peyton, and Haley all asked at once, while Luke smiled at Brooke.

"Yeah, it's his new nickname. I like it." She explained.

"Me too." Luke commented. Jake, Peyton, and Haley began laughing but Brooke and Lucas were sucked into their own little world and didn't notice.

"Oh, I am so texting Nathan right now to tell him. He is going to be so angry he missed it." Haley smiled, pulling out her phone.

_From now on you need to call Lucas "Broody". _She sent and put her phone on the table.

"Where is Nate anyway?" Peyton asked.

"Oh, he said that he wanted to get some sleep if he was going to come help Brooke move tomorrow." Haley answered and picked up her phone that was going off.

_Ok, why?_

_That is his new nickname, courtesy of Brooke. He claims to like it. We will see how much once we all start using it._

_I like the way you think Hales. Tomorrow is sounding like it is going to be fun._

_You bet. See you then. _With that, she put her phone down and came back to the conversations going on around her.

"So, how did they basically get together in less than an hour?" Jake asked, pointing at Brooke and Lucas who were once again dancing.

"Brooke has that affect on people. She once dated a guy that told her he loved her on the first date." Haley laughed.

"Interesting. Why did she continue to date him?" Peyton asked.

"She didn't want to be mean, so she went on about three dates with him then broke it off. Plus he gave her a gift every day." Haley explained.

"Smart girl." Peyton replied.

They continued to talk and laugh for a while until Brooke and Lucas walked back over.

"Hey look, the stars of 'Footloose' decided to take a break." Jake joked. "You guys ready to leave?"

"Sure." Luke said. "What time do you want us there tomorrow?

"Um, like around 8:00." Brooke replied.

"Oh, that is before Nate's alarm clock even goes off on his days off." Luke said.

"We could call him to wake him up." Jake suggested.

"He will just sleep through the call." Luke said.

"Ok, brilliant idea. How about we all go over to his house to wake him up in the morning? I mean you have a key Luke so we might as well. I can make breakfast and then we can just go move everything around after that." Haley said.

"Actually, that is a really good idea. I like it." Luke said and everyone nodded their agreement.

"Ok, so Brooke and I will meet you guys there at like 7:20?" Haley asked. They all agreed and said their goodnights, ready to have some fun the next day.

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**Let me know what you think! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2...So exciting haha...maybe. Anyway I forgot to mention a few things last time...**

**1) This story is named after the song Won't Back Down by Mat Kearney**

**2) I do not own the song, or One Tree Hill (characters included)**

**I hope you enjoy the chapter. Some exciting stuff will be coming up soon. Enjoy :)**

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You think I'm pretty without any makeup on

_**You think I'm funny when I tell the punch-line wrong**_

_**I know you get me so I let my walls come down**_

_**Dooown**_

Nathan woke up to the sound of "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry blasting throughout his apartment.

"What the hell?" he asked himself as he sat up and pulled on a pair or basketball shorts before going to find the source of the music. As he opened the door to his bedroom, he saw Luke sitting on his couch.

"Luke, what are you doing in my apartment this early? And why are you listening to Katy Perry?"

"What, boss, you aren't a Katy Perry fan?" Haley asked as she popped her head out from the kitchen, smiling.

"What? Huh, well I guess she's ok. This song will be stuck in my head all day though." Nathan answered and looked further into his kitchen only to find Peyton cutting up fruit while Jake stood next to her, occasionally stealing a piece, and Brooke walking out with a coffee mug in her hand.

"Here you go Nate," she said, handing him the mug, "it will help you wake up." With that, she walked over and sat next to Lucas on the couch.

Nathan was thoroughly confused, so he settled for sitting on a stool in the kitchen and watching Haley cook.

"So, not that I'm not thrilled that you guys are all in my apartment at," he paused to look at his watch, "7:45 in the morning, but why are you in my apartment at 7:45 in the morning?"

"Dude, you promised to help Brooke move in today." Luke yelled from his seat.

"Yeah, I did, but I was unaware that I would be waking up this early to do it."

"Well after you left we decided to get an early start on the day so we could finish sooner. Luke said that this would be before your alarm went off, so I suggested that we could be your alarm. I mean plus, you get breakfast," Haley explained holding up her spatula.

"Ok, I guess that is alright then, but Luke you are giving me my key back." Nathan joked.

"Not even man, your tv is so much bigger than mine." Luke said.

"Hand it over, Broody." Nathan teased. Luke just glared at him. "What, you think that just because I wasn't there for the unveiling of the nickname that I wouldn't find out? Nuh-uh. I've got eyes and ears everywhere." Nathan said and winked at Haley.

"No, you are just lucky you flirt with your co-workers enough that they want to share things with you." Lucas replied and Nathan just turned and stared at him.

"Hey! I am offended by that. What Nate and I have is special and you won't ruin it." Jake said, and came up next to Nathan, putting his arm around his shoulder. He tried his hardest to keep a straight face, as everyone busted up laughing but soon he was laughing just as much.

"Well, breakfast is ready everyone so grab it while it's hot." Haley said and took her plate to the table to being eating.

Once they had all finished their breakfast, they waited for Nathan to get dressed. Haley had found it amazingly difficult to focus on anything with Nathan around that morning. He had walked out of his room shirtless, in a pair of basketball shorts, and she had to force herself to look away. She had quickly decided that basketball shorts are hot, especially when the guy wearing them is also hot and shirtless.

"So, Brooke, where are you moving in anyway?" Nathan asked as they carpooled over to her new apartment.

"Oh, I am right across the hall from Hales. It is going to be just like high school, we were roommates then too." Brooke informed them.

Everyone gave Haley a confused look.

"My parents love to travel and because I was the youngest they were anxious to be on the road all the time. One day, I told them that as much as I love them and love having them around, I knew that I could count on Brooke to make sure I was safe and taken care of. So I moved in with her." Haley explained and they all nodded their heads.

"That makes sense. It is so great that you guys have each other. I'm jealous, I mean I have these guys, but it's not the same." Peyton said.

"Don't worry Blondie, you are totally in on this loop. Leave no one behind, or something like that." Brooke said, laughing.

"Yeah Peyton, you don't need to hang out with the boys all the time. We are totally here for you." Haley agreed.

"Nice, I am so down for some girls' nights!" Peyton replied.

"Oooh that sounds like a lot of fun! We are going to plan a girls' night soon!" Brooke squealed.

"How are they all so awake this early?" Nathan asked Jake and Luke as he turned into the parking lot of Haley's, and now Brooke's, apartment building.

"I have no idea man, no idea." Luke laughed.

"I think that they each had like five cups of coffee before you even woke up." Jake said.

"Well that would explain a lot." Nathan laughed.

"Okay boys, enough talking about us. Time for you to do some heavy lifting!" Brooke exclaimed and jumped out of the car.

"I could be in my bed right now, sleeping…..remind me why I am here again?" Nathan asked, leaning his head against the steering wheel.

"Free food was your reason, I believe." Luke said and patted his back before getting out of the car and joining everyone else.

As Nathan was closing his door, he turned around to find he was face to face with Haley.

"Hey, I just wanted to thank you for coming to help Brooke out today. You didn't have to, but you chose to anyway and I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate it." She said and smiled up at him.

"You're welcome and it's really no problem." He smiled back. "Besides, I want in on this 'BFF' business and if I didn't help her unpack, I'm sure Brooke would pick Jake before me." He said and laughed as they walked over to the others. Haley laughed along and lightly pushed him into the side of his car and linked arms with Brooke before leading the way to where they were all going.

After about three hours of moving boxes into Brooke's apartment, they were all sitting around on her sofas.

"I had no idea one person could own so much stuff." Jake complained. "My arms are going to be sore tomorrow."

"That's ok baby, I can help you out with that." Peyton said and started rubbing his arms. He just smirked at her and leaned further into the couch.

"Well, what do we do now?" Nathan asked.

"I don't know, hot shot, I guess I do owe you lunch. What do you guys want?" Brooke replied.

"Hot shot?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, you were like a superhero, lifting and carrying all those heavy boxes without complaining. Plus I saw you shoot something into a trash can from like super far away, therefore 'hot shot.'" Brooke answered.

"I don't know Tigger, I like 'boss' better for Nathan." Haley said.

"Well, yeah, that's because you work for him. Also, it is really cute when you call him that. I can't call him boss because he is not my boss." Brooke explained.

"Yeah, I guess. Anyway, I was thinking pizza for lunch. Does that sound alright to everyone?" Haley asked.

Everyone replied in a chorus of 'yeah' or 'sounds good'. So Haley quickly ordered and returned to talk with everyone.

"So, what do you guys all do for fun?" Brooke asked.

"Brooke, we don't get all that much time for 'fun'." Haley answered.

"Oh, c'mon Hales. You know what I mean, like on your time off you sing. What does everyone else do?" Brooke replied.

"You sing?" Nathan asked. While everyone else nodded in agreement, wanting to know the same thing.

"Hell yeah she sings and she's freakin' awesome." Brooke answered while Haley just shook her head and looked down.

"Why don't we know this?" Luke asked.

"I didn't think it was all that important." Haley answered.

"Oh, you and Jake should sing together some time." Peyton said. "You should see this boy with a guitar."

"I don't know guys." Haley said, trying to avoid it.

"C'mon Hales, you should. I mean we all have talents and things that we enjoy doing. I play basketball and go running every morning before coming to work." Nathan said.

"He does, sometimes I join him too." Luke said. "I also want to write a book one day."

"That's great guys, I am so happy you all have talents. Plus Brooke, you make the most amazing clothes I have ever seen and Peyton I have seen your artwork and it is incredible. So, I'll tell you what if you all keep up with your talents I will sing for you one day, as long as Jake here joins me." Haley said.

"That is all we are asking Hales." Brooke said, smiling.

"So, you design clothes Brooke?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah I do. I love it."

"That is so cool. Can I see some of them? Jake's parents are coming to town next week and I don't want to look unfit to be dating their son."

"Peyton, my parents have already met you and they love you." Jake said.

"Yeah, and I was trying really hard to impress them. If I go see them looking like I do every day they will want you to dump me." Peyton replied.

"Peyton, I am sure that is not true." Brooke said.

"It's not." Jake quickly answered.

"But in any case I would be glad to help you out. You can't have anything I have already made though." Brooke told her.

"Oh, ok. That is fine." Peyton said, feeling slightly rejected.

"Yep, you are getting a Brooke Davis original! Get ready to have a one of a kind masterpiece in your wardrobe, P Sawyer."

"Really? Brooke that is amazing! Thank you!"

"Don't thank me yet girlie. We have a lot of work ahead of us. C'mon, we have to go get your measurements and I need to get a feel for your fashion sense." Brooke said as she began dragging Peyton to another room.

Once they were gone, Haley turned toward the guys. "So what do you all think of Brooke?"

"She's great." Luke replied, smiling. They all just laughed at him.

"I may not be all crushed out on her like this doofus, but I still agreed that she is pretty great. She seems like a really good friend." Nathan said and Jake nodded along.

"Good, I'm glad you guys like her, especially you Luke."

"Really, and why is that?" He asked.

"Well she needs a good guy in her life and I kind of always pictured you two together."

"That's nice Hales. Thanks."

"Yeah, just don't go thinking you are all that now ok. Egos aren't that attractive."

"Please, I don't have a big ego. That is all Nate."

"Hey, I can't help it that I'm awesome." Nathan said. "Besides, you are always bragging about how great you are."

"I do not. I just like to share fun facts." Luke replied.

"Oh, fun facts?" Nathan asked.

"Yes, fun facts. It is a fact that I am better with communicating than you. It is a fact that I beat you when we went running yesterday, and it is a fact that I am a better driver than you. Those are all fun." Luke replied.

"Ok, first of all I so kick your ass at driving. Second you decided to sprint at a random time, barely beating me. So your facts are more like opinions." Nathan responded.

"Yeah, neither of you have egos at all." Haley laughed.

"Fine, maybe we do, but you agree that I am better, right?" Lucas asked.

"No way man. She likes me so much more than you." Nathan argued and put his arm behind Haley on the sofa and smirked.

Just then the buzzer for the apartment went off. "Wow. On that note I am going to go let the pizza guy in." Haley said and stood up.

Jake just shook his head and laughed at the two other guys who seemed to be having a staring contest. "Peyton, Brooke the pizza is here." He yelled.

"Thanks guys. We will be out soon." Peyton yelled back.

Just as everyone sat back down and grabbed a slice, Nathan and Peyton's phones went off. They quickly got up and answered before returning.

"Sorry guys, we have to go. There's a case. Brooke, it was nice to hang out with you. Let me know if you need any help with anything." Nathan said and began to lead the way out of her apartment.

"Bye guys, good luck with the case." Brooke said and hugged Haley. "See you later buddy. Go hunt down some bad guys."

Lucas turned around and waved at Brooke.

"Bye Luke." She said, winking and smiling as she waved back.

"So what do we have Nate? A robbery gone wrong, a kidnapping?" Jake asked.

Nathan turned around to face everyone with a serious face. "He's back." Was all he said before turning back around and continuing his walk out of the building.

Everyone else froze, flashing back to when this all started, before Nathan yelled at them to hurry up.

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**Let me know what you think :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3! I am so happy that you are all liking this story. I am having so much fun writing it...Enjoy :) **

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_Flashback_

_Four months ago_

_They had just been called in for a supposedly upsetting case. They had no idea what they were in for, all they knew was that a young woman had been murdered._

"_Alright, are you ready?" Nathan asked, turning toward everyone else. They nodded and he led the way inside the crime scene. They had to walk through a large, spacious room, filled with trash, random articles of clothing, and empty glasses, in order to get to the actual scene of the crime. Once they reached the door to the back alley Nathan opened it and they immediately noticed three things: the victim who seemed to be thrown on top of a dumpster, a group of girls huddled in the corner crying, and Peyton hard at work circling around the body._

_She noticed them walking toward her and stood up. "Ok, you're here. We've got a young female victim, approximately 25 years old, several fractures to her arms and legs, scratches on her back, and bruises all over her stomach. She fought back. Cause of death is a deep cut across her neck. No ID, but I'm sure those girls over there could help. They found her this morning. I believe that she was also at the party." Peyton informed them, pointing to the girls._

"_Thanks Peyton. We'll see what they know."Lucas replied. She nodded and turned around to get back to work._

"_Luke, Jake, you guys go look around inside, find out if someone owns this place and talk to them. See if you can find surveillance cameras or anything like that. Hales, you come with me. We are going to talk to those girls and they may be able to relate to you more." Nathan said. They nodded and went their separate ways._

_Nathan and Haley reached the group of girls whose sobs had turned into sniffles. "Hi, I am Detective Nathan Scott and this here is Lieutenant Haley James. We would like to ask you a few questions."_

"_Sure." The most put-together of the three said. She was average height, blonde hair, blue eyes and dressed for a party. The other two were very similar to her, although one had brown hair and the other had sort of platinum blonde hair. "I'm Sarah, this is Amber and Julie." She said as she pointed to the brunette and the platinum blonde, respectively. _

"_Did you know the victim?" Haley asked._

"_Yes, she is-was one of our best friends. Kate was such a nice person. I don't know why anyone would do this to her." Sarah replied._

"_Kate?" Nathan asked._

"_Kate Bomer." Amber answered._

"_When was the last time you saw her?" Nathan asked._

"_It was probably around 2:30. We were dancing and her phone started to go off, so she pulled it out to answer it but came out here because it was too loud in there." Sarah answered._

"_Do you know who she was talking to?" Haley asked._

"_No, I mean, we figured it was her boyfriend. They had gotten into a fight last night and he usually calls to apologize and they make up." Sarah said._

"_Can you give us a name and address for the boyfriend?" Haley asked._

"_Um, his name is Jonathan Bishop. I don't know where he lives, but Julie works with him at The Blue Moon, it's a bar about 15 minutes from here." Sarah answered once again._

"_Thank you. For now that is all we need, we will contact you if we need any more information and please call if you remember anything else." Nathan said._

"_We're sorry for your loss." Haley said before they walked away._

_End of Flashback_

That was their first encounter with "the party crasher". There have been two murders since then that happen the exact same way. There is a large party or a crowded night at a club, a young woman gets a call on her phone, she goes to the alley to hear the person on the other end, and winds up his next victim. Kate Bomer, Rachel Hudson, and Jackie Morrison all met the same fate. Now there was a new victim.

"Same crime scene, different alley." Jake said, shaking his head. "We need to catch this guy."

"Yeah, we do, and we are going to this time. Jake, go find out who the victim is. Let me know anything you find out. Hales, go check the scene for anything different. Maybe he forgot something this time. Then you and Jake go notify the family. Luke, we are going to go see if there is any connection we missed among all the victims." Nathan said and they all headed off in different directions.

Nathan and Lucas were on their way back to the precinct, neither of them were talking and Nathan had a very focused look on his face.

Luke's phone went off and he immediately grabbed it, eager for the distraction from the tension filled car ride.

"Jake says our victim's name is Regina Cho. She was there with her sister from out of town. Same story, she got a phone call and went outside. This time though, the sister went out to check on her and saw a tall man walking down the alley. She said it was dark so it was hard to get details, but he was about 6'3" and walked with a limp. It's not much, but it's something." Luke said.

"It's more than we had before. I just wish we knew why he was choosing these girls. Obviously he is choosing them if they get calls beforehand. What is the connection here Luke?"

"When we get to the precinct we will pour over the files we have on everyone and see if we find anything. There has to be some sort of connection."

Luke's phone went off again, but this time he put it on speaker.

"Hey Haley, you're on speaker. What did you find?" Luke asked.

"Hey guys. Well the scene is basically the same as the rest of them, however this time her phone was still here. It is smashed pretty badly, but maybe we can get some information from it, like, I don't know, the number that called her. I'll see what I can do with it when I get back to the precinct." Haley said.

"Good work Hales. You and Jake going to talk to the family now?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, the sister is coming with us and she is offering to help in any way she can."

"That's good. Alright, let us know anything else you find out."

"Will do boss. See you guys later." And with that she hung up.

"See, this guy is getting lazy. He's gotten away with three murders so he's gotten a little cocky. He thinks that we won't be able to catch him no matter what he does." Luke said.

"Well he's wrong. We're going to get this guy and he will be knocked down a few levels in prison." Nathan said.

They arrived at the precinct and immediately began reading over every file they could find on the victims.

"Got anything?" Luke asked.

"No. This is ridiculous." Nathan replied and slammed his hand down on his desk. "Ok, let's go over the facts."

"Ok, there are four victims, all females between the ages of 22 to 26. They were all at different parties and each received a call before going out to the alleys to talk. All of them had defensive wounds. And all of them were killed in the same way, knife to the throat." Luke said.

"Ok, so we know that the attacker didn't come up from behind and slash their necks because they have defensive wounds." Nathan said.

"Right, so either they knew their attacker, or he came at them with a question and took advantage of their momentary lapse in judgment." Luke said

"I don't know about all of that, but Hales and I may have found a connection between all four vics." Jake said as he and Haley walked into the room.

"What is it?" Nathan asked.

"Well, we were in the Cho's living room as they received the news when this picture caught my eye." Haley explained, sitting at her desk and pulling the internet up on her computer. "So I took my phone out and checked her facebook account. It turns out the picture was on there too." She explained as she pulled the picture up. It was a large group of people all standing outside a big office building. "They were all interns at a local advertising agency, Tree Hill Advertising. Real original, huh? Anyway, they usually got together on Friday nights to find local clubs and parties to hang out. Friends of friends were welcome too. I say that our killer is someone there, but it will take some time to figure out who it could be."

"Wow, great work you guys. I am impressed. C'mon let's go visit THA, maybe they'll cooperate." Luke said.

"Hold on a second Luke." Nathan said. "Before we go in there trying to work with these people we need to assume that it could be anyone at the company."

"Yeah, which is why we need to get over there." Luke said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"No. What we need to do is send someone in undercover." Nathan replied, turning toward Haley. "You know anything about advertising Hales?"

"I guess I better learn." She responded.

"Quickly. I just set up an interview for you tomorrow morning." Jake said from his desk.

"Ok, well we are pretty much done for the night. Tomorrow I expect to see you all bright and early. We need to be here before Hales leaves." Nathan said and started to put his jacket on.

"Oh no, you guys are not going to leave me hanging. If I have to be the one to go undercover you are going to help me learn all about advertising. C'mon we are going to my place; I will get Brooke to order Chinese food." Haley said.

"Fine, I guess I can let my plans for the night go." Luke said, sighing dramatically.

"Whatever you dork. I know you just want to see Brooke again." Haley laughed.

"I have no idea what you are talking about Haley." Luke replied.

"Sure, sure keep lying to us. We can all see through you buddy." Haley said.

"She's right man. The second you saw Brooke your jaw dropped to the floor. In fact, I'm surprised it's attached to your face right now and not permanently part of Tric's decorations." Jake said.

Everyone just laughed and Luke put on his signature "broody" face.

"So that's why she calls you Broody. I see that now." Nathan smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you guys laugh it up at my expense. Such great friends I have." Luke replied.

"Oh calm down. You know we love you Luke." Haley replied.

"Hey, no one said anything about loving him." Nathan objected. Haley just looked back at him as if to say "be nice".

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind Brooke loving him." Jake muttered and Nathan busted up laughing.

"Nice." Nathan commented and Haley tried to hide her smile. Luke just stared at them before walking out of the precinct.

"Luke, why are you so bent out of shape about this? So you like her so what? We are just having fun." Nathan said.

Lucas turned around smiling, "I know. I was totally messing with you guys." He said and laughed.

"Alright, fair enough. Man I thought you were getting all emotional and offended." Nathan said.

"Nah, but hey I had you guys going. That was fun." He replied.

"Yeah, I mean if being a cop doesn't work out for you, you could always turn to acting." Haley said.

"See, there you go Luke. When you get fired for taking your anger out on an unsuspecting pedestrian, who just happens to be near you while you are angry, you will have a fall back." Jake said.

"So, Jakey, is Peyton coming over to help us tonight?" Haley asked.

"Unfortunately no, she is still running tests on the body. She wants to make sure he didn't leave behind any DNA or anything."

"Alright, well she will have to miss out on learning all about the incredible world of advertising. I hope she knows what she is missing out on." Haley joked.

"I'm sure she does, but I will remind her when I go home later." He replied.

)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

The next morning they were all meeting up at the precinct before Haley went for her big interview. They had found out a lot about advertising that they never thought they needed to know before, and they were just going to go over everyone's stories one more time to make sure they had it right.

"Alright Hales, let's hear it. What's your story?" Nathan asked.

"I am Britanny Phillips, I am a 21 year old graduate from Duke. I double-majored in communications and business. I grew up in Charlotte, but was looking for the small town atmosphere which my boyfriend Zakary Banks supplied having grown up here in Tree Hill. I am looking to break into the world of advertising and hoping that THA is that place for me." Haley answered.

"Good. Jake?"

"I am the new bartender at The Blue Moon. I am always looking for parties on Friday nights, and I get my information from the locals that come in there, considering I just moved here from Colorado." He answered.

"Cool, and unfortunately you don't get to put your acting skills out there yet Luke. You still get to be Lucas Roe, detective. However, I will be playing the part of Zakary Banks, Britanny's amazing, hot, wonderful boyfriend. I am 23 and also graduated from Duke where I majored in sports management. I met Britanny there at a party and we have been together for three years." Nathan said.

Haley was all ready for her interview. She was dressed to impress with a straight black pencil skirt and light blue blouse. She was simple and classy at the same time and topped the outfit off with a pair of black heels.

Nathan was going to be playing the dutiful boyfriend and drop her off at the interview, then wait to pick her up afterward. Before they left, he walked over to her and handed her an ear piece so that they could communicate while she was in there.

"You ready for this Hales?"

"Yeah. Let's go boyfriend." She said and took his arm as they walked out to his car.

The car ride was pretty simple, they listened to music and made small talk every now and then. It was comfortable. When they pulled up outside the building, he ran over to her side of the car and opened her door for her.

"Thanks." She said and smiled at him.

"You're welcome." He replied, returning the smile. "Good luck." He said and pulled her in for a hug and as they pulled away he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. "You'll do great in there. Now go get that job." He said and gently pushed her toward the building.

She looked back with a questioning face. He knew she was confused as to his behavior and its quick appearance, not that she was complaining. So he winked and gave her a quick nod before walking back around to his side of the car and driving off once she'd made it inside the building.

Haley walked up to the assistant at the front desk right away.

"Hi, my name is Britanny Phillips. I am here for the internship interview." She said and smiled.

"Mr. Wesley will be right with you." The assistant said and smiled. "You can sit over there and wait if you would like."

Haley nodded and began to walk over to the chairs. "Here we go." She muttered.

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**Let me know what you think :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! So I really like this chapter and I hope you do too! Sorry it took me so long to update today, but I couldn't sign in for some strange reason. Anyway, here is the next chapet, enjoy :)**

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"Hey Britanny!" Haley heard someone yell as she was about to walk out of the THA building. She was finishing her first week of being the new intern there and people were starting to warm up to her and accept her.

"Oh, hey Suzie. What's up?" Haley asked.

"Hi, so we are all going to go out tonight and wanted to know if you wanted to join us." Suzie smiled. She was definitely one of the nicest people that Haley had ever met.

"Sure, that sounds like fun. Text me later and let me know where and when."

"Ok, bye Britanny." Haley waved and walked out to the parking lot to find Nathan waiting by his car.

"Well hello there boyfriend." She said as she walked up to him. Keeping up appearances and pretending to be dating Nathan wasn't as hard as she thought it would be. She was actually enjoying it quite a bit, a little too much maybe.

"Hey. How was work?" He asked, taking her hand and pulling her toward him, still leaning against the car. She was now standing between his legs, her face just inches from his.

"Oh, you know, it was work." She leaned further into him so that her mouth was right by his ear. "I got us a lead. We are going out tonight with the rest of the interns." She said and saw one of her fellow interns looking at them so she kissed the spot below his ear.

"Oh really? That sounds like fun. Will this include loud music, drinks, dancing, and generally being in close quarters?" he asked, smirking at her.

"I hope so. Most good nights out do." She replied.

"Well in that case maybe we should go practice at home. That sound good to you?" Nathan asked, locking eyes with her. Their covers live together, so for the time being Nathan moved over to Haley's apartment. They can't exactly be seen going to the station anyway so they have everything they need there, and Lucas has visiting Brooke as an excuse to be in the apartment building.

"That sounds perfect." Haley smiled and waved at her coworkers who were walking by at the moment. Nathan laughed and held her hand before opening her door for her.

…..

"Well it is about time you guys got here." Peyton said, smirking. Nathan and Haley just arrived at the apartment building and met up with everyone in Brooke's apartment. "What took so long?"

"There was a lot of traffic." Nathan replied, dismissing her comment. "We've got a lead."

"Oh yeah, what is that?" Luke asked.

"How do you guys feel about hitting up a party tonight?" Nathan asked.

"That depends, am I allowed to come or am I just listening from outside?" Luke asked.

"Luke, Brooke is your girlfriend, you have an excuse to be at a party." Haley laughed.

"Hey, first of all, are you implying that I am some sort of crazy part animal tutor girl? Also, girlfriend?" Brooke asked.

Lucas softly pushed Haley. "Um, well, I was thinking that maybe you would like to be…..I mean I would like you to be, but if that's not what you want I would understand." He said shyly while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Wow, that was smooth." Nathan commented sarcastically.

"Hey, it was cute." Haley said and they turned back to see Brooke walk over to him and kiss him.

"That was so sweet, boyfriend." Brooke said, smiling.

"Good, now see you do have Brooke. You guys will just happen to be at the same club as us, no problem." Nathan said.

"Alright, we are waiting on a text from Suzie to tell us where to go then we can head over there." Haley said. "Peyton, is Jake going to be joining us?"

"Hold on tutor girl, that question can wait." Brooke said.

"Ok….Why?"

"Well you, me, and P Sawyer need to go get party ready. We are not dressed for a club right now." She replied. "Neither are you two by the way. Broody, you and Nate should go change and then come back to pick us up."

"Ok, see you guys later."Nathan said.

"Don't forget to look hot!" Brooke yelled.

"We won't if you don't." Luke replied.

"C'mon, with the three of us hot is an understatement." Brooke said, pulling Haley and Peyton toward her closet.

"You know that's true." Nathan muttered and Luke just laughed.

"Anyway, to answer your earlier question Hales, Jake isn't coming with us tonight. He has to work at the bar. I'm thinking that is where we are going, considering he told me there is a big group going there tonight." Peyton said.

"Oh, I hope so, that would make things so much easier." Haley commented, looking through Brooke's clothes and pulling out a pair of skinny jeans.

"No way Hales, you are young and hot, not to mention going out on a Friday night to party with your "boyfriend", you are not wearing jeans." Brooke said.

"Ok, and what do you expect me to wear Brookie?" Haley asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Well, you have to be hot, but still able to be packing in case it is necessary. Let's see, you can either wear a little black dress or some shorts with a loose top. Try both of these outfits on and we'll give you our opinion." She handed Haley the outfits and pushed her out of the way so she could focus on what to give Peyton to wear.

About an hour later the guys showed back up, wanting the girls to have time to get ready and not pressure them to be done sooner.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Peyton asked, opening the door. "You ready to party?"

"I guess, are you guys almost ready?" Nathan asked.

"Oh yeah, we're done. Haley just went next door to get her shoes and Brooke went to approve." Peyton explained. "Come on in and wait."

"Actually, I want to go get some earpieces and mics from next door." Nathan said. "I'll be right back." He said and walked across the hall to Haley's apartment, using his key to get in. Brooke was right about to leave and bumped into him.

"Hey Nate, Haley is just putting her shoes on and then she'll be ready." She said and walked out of the apartment.

Nathan walked to Haley's room and found the door open with her sitting on her bed, putting her shoes on. All he could do was stare at her. This whole undercover fake relationship thing was really messing with him. All he wanted to do was walk over to her and kiss her, but he couldn't.

"You look nice." He commented, causing her to look up and smile at him.

"Thanks, so do you. What are you doing over here? I thought we were meeting back at Brooke's." She replied.

"Yeah, we are, but I wanted to get some mics and earpieces before we head out. I like to be prepared." He said and she nodded.

"Good, it will be hard enough getting around in there, let alone talking so those should help. By the way, we are going to The Blue Moon, and Jake just happens to be working. So, extra eyes."

"Ok, well we will just have to watch out for anything. This doesn't seem like the usual place though. Usually the crime scenes are at these crazy big club type places, not small town bars that barely fit 100 people."

"Yeah, I didn't think so either, but it wouldn't hurt to build on my relationships with these people. I think that they might like to actually meet my amazing, caring, wonderful boyfriend who loves me so much too."

"Well, in that case I guess we can go, I wouldn't want to disappoint. Besides, I am looking too hot to stay in tonight." He laughed and she joined in. "I think that my gorgeous girlfriend would agree. Plus, she's looking pretty hot herself." He winked, continuing with the flirty banter they created.

"Yeah, I guess she looks alright."

"Better than alright." He told her and tucked some hair behind her ear before placing an earpiece there.

She smiled at him as he put his own earpiece in and lightly pushed at his chest before walking over to Brooke's apartment. Nathan followed closely behind and immediately handed Luke his own earpiece and mic before handing Jake's to Peyton.

"Ok, so Hales and I will arrive first. Then in about half an hour you guys can show up. Remember, no contact between us unless it is necessary." Nathan said and turned to Haley. "You ready to go?"

"Yep, let's party." She said and led him out to the elevator. As they waited Haley noticed Nathan glance over at her several times. "What?" She asked smirking.

"Nothing." He replied smirking right back at her.

"Sure." She smiled. She was definitely happy that she went with the outfit that Brooke chose for her. Although she wouldn't normally wear short black shorts with heels and a sheer, green, flirty blouse combined with a black camisole, she actually felt like she looked hot, and with the way that Nathan kept looking at her she knew it was true. "You know, it's not polite to stare." She whispered before stepping onto the elevator.

"I disagree, it lets the person being stared at know that they look good."

"Well I already know I look good."

"And how do you know that?"

"Brooke and Peyton told me." She smiled.

"Really, I remember someone else telling you too."

"Luke told me too? Huh, that must have slipped my mind." She joked, laughing as he rolled his eyes.

"You know, I would tell you that you look amazing *cough, once again*, but I'm sure your boyfriend would come beat me up."

"Oh definitely, he is so much more built that you. I mean he could take you down in like two seconds."

"Ok, well that was uncalled for Hales. Here we were having a nice, fun conversation and you had to go and ruin it by insinuating that I could be beaten up quickly." He pouted and stepped out of the elevator, walking to his car.

She followed behind, hiding her giggles, trying to catch up. "I'm sorry, I have seen your fighting skills and they are impressive. No one can beat you. Happy?" She smiled.

He put his arm around her as they continued the walk out to the car. "I guess that apology will work."

"Good, because that is the only apology you are getting boss." She said and got in the car door that he opened for her.

They arrived at The Blue Moon about 15 minutes later and were surprised at what they saw. They had both expected a dive bar, but found that there is this whole building attached to the Blue Moon that seemed to be overflowing with people ready to party and there was a line of people going all the way down the street waiting to get in.

"This is so not what I expected." Nathan commented.

"I know what you mean." Haley replied, looking at the line as they tried to find a parking spot.

"How are we supposed to get in?"

"Oh, I have an idea." She winked.

They parked and walked toward the bar, Nathan tried to stop at the end of the line but Haley grabbed his hand and pulled him to the entrance. When they reached the bouncers, Haley let go of his hand and smiled sweetly at them.

"Hi, I am new in town and I heard that this is a great place. What do you think?" She asked in a sweet, southern accent.

The bouncer smiled at her. "I think that's true. Would you like to find out?"

"Yes please!" She squealed and hugged him when he pulled the rope aside for her. She then grabbed Nathan's hand and pulled him with her. "Thank you so much! He's with me."

The bouncer smiled and nodded, laughing at the goofy girl who was so eager to get in the club.

"Wow, Hales, nice acting skills. I'm pretty sure that guy died a little on the inside when you pulled me with you though. I think he thought he had a chance with you." Nathan said.

"Yeah, too bad I already have a boyfriend." She replied and held their intertwined hands up. "Oh, I see Suzie, let's go." Before he could respond she had pulled him so that they were standing in front of a tiny girl with short red hair. Haley gave her a hug and then took Nathan's hand in hers again.

"Suzie, this is my boyfriend, Zakary. Babe, this is Suzie. We work together." Haley exchanged introductions.

"It's nice to meet you, thanks for being so nice to my girl. I really appreciate it." Nathan said, shaking her hand.

"Oh, it's not a problem. Brittany is even nicer than I am. I think most people said it was impossible." She laughed. "I actually have to go, my best friend is visiting and she is getting drinks, but I will see you guys later. Have fun!" She said and waved before walking away.

They headed over to the bar and saw Jake working. They quickly flagged him down and he handed them two beers.

"Hey Jake, make sure you are on high alert ok. If you see anyone walk toward the alley exit let us know. Peyton should be here soon with your earpiece." Nathan told him.

"Alright, let me know if you guys see anything too." He replied and went to serve someone else.

Nathan looked over at Haley and took a drink of his beer. "So, what do we do now?"

Haley got really close to him and leaned into his ear. "We could dance." She whispered.

He shot her a look, "I don't know," he replied, already knowing that he was going to say yes eventually.

"C'mon, you know you want to." She said, looking into his eyes before putting her mouth next to his ear again. "Besides, we have a better opportunity to see someone going to the alley from the dance floor." She then grabbed his hand and put it on her shoulder before leading him to dance.

When they reached the floor, she turned around to face him and put both of his hands on her hips before putting her arms around his neck. She started moving slowly, swaying her hips from side to side, to make sure he could keep up. When she'd had enough of that, she turned so that her back was facing him and kept doing the same thing. He was beginning to loosen up and relax so she stepped out of his embrace and began dancing like she normally would, hands in the air, moving her hips to the music, and moving around. He was a little shocked, but attempted to join in. She saw him dancing and started to laugh. He noticed and immediately stopped dancing. She started to copy what he was doing, but before she could get too far he grabbed her hand and pulled her to him again so that there was no space between them. They began swaying and moving to the beat again and Nathan moved his head down so that she could hear him.

"You think you are really funny, don't you?" He smirked.

"I think I'm hilarious." She smiled. She thought they were still dancing and flirting but he wasn't responding. "Hey, what's up?"

"Someone just walked out into the alley, talking on their phone. Let's go." He said and grabbed her hand, pulling her off the dance floor. "We can't just go barging out there, we need to have an excuse in case nothing is going on."

"Ok, what do you suggest?"

"Follow my lead." He said. She nodded and when they reached the door he turned around and stopped her. He grabbed onto her hips and lifted her up. She immediately wrapped her legs around his waist. He looked up at her and smirked. "Kiss me." He said and she did. She kissed him quickly and passionately, and when she felt him push the door open she moved to kissing his neck.

He opened his eyes and checked to see if anyone was out there. There was a girl on her phone over to the side, but no one else. Nathan then turned them around and pinned Haley up against the wall. They continued to make out until he moved to kissing her neck and Haley opened her eyes.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry I didn't see you out here." Haley said and disentangled herself from Nathan. "I am so embarrassed."

"That's ok Brittany. I was just out here answering a phone call but no one was on the other line. I take it this is the boyfriend?" She asked.

"Yeah it is. Chealsea, this is Zakary. I am so sorry once again that you had to see that." Haley said.

"Don't worry about it. If I had a hot boyfriend I would be doing the exact same thing." She replied. "I'm going to head back inside, you guys go back to enjoying your night." She winked.

"Thanks, we'll see you later." Haley said and hid her face in Nathan's chest. "Did you see that?" She asked.

"Yeah, let's go." They had both just seen a tall figure peer around the corner, but quickly pull away.

"Luke, Jake we are in pursuit. There was an almost attack in the alley." Haley said into her mic.

"On our way." They both responded.

Haley and Nathan quickly rounded the corner only to find the perp long gone.

"Great, that's just great." Nathan said.

"Hey, we saved her life, ok? We will get this guy soon. Plus we have a pretty solid excuse going for us. All we have to do is sneak out to the alley for a quick make out session in order to protect these girls." She winked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I am right. I mean I have a hot boyfriend, why wouldn't I want to make out with him?"

"Really, you guys called us out here to watch you flirt?" Jake asked.

"No, but the perp got away." Nathan answered. "You guys can go back inside."

They shook their heads, but turned around to go back into the club.

"I guess we should go back inside too." Haley said. "I can ask to borrow Chealsea's phone and we can get the number that called her last." Nathan nodded and offered her his hand as they walked back toward the club.

"You think I'm hot." He smirked.

"I never said that." She blushed.

"Yeah you did. You called me your 'hot boyfriend'."

"I didn't mean to."

"People don't mean to say a lot of things, that's usually when they are telling the truth. Besides, you moaned several times while we were kissing. I think you like me Haley James." He smirked.

"Oh whatever, you kept grabbing my ass, so I think you like me, boss." She answered.

"Hey, you have a serious ass, that's not my fault."

"So you've been looking?"

"I have every right to look at my girlfriend." He said and dropped her hand, putting his arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him. "You know you've been looking at me too."

"You are so cocky." She said "Anyway, I have every right to look at my boyfriend." She joked, mocking him and smirking.

He opened the door and they walked back inside unaware that someone had been watching them the whole time.

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**Let me know what you think :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, sorry I didn't post a preview this week, I got a little busy and didn't get to write until today. This chapter is a little shorter, and kind of a filler chapter, but I think it is cute and a bit of a break from the murders and all that. I hope you like it, enjoy :)**

**_Thank all of you who reviewed last chapter. Once again I am sorry I didn't get a preview out to you._**

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Haley woke up on her couch with the biggest headache ever. She looked around and saw Nathan asleep on the floor, once again shirtless. If she hadn't been in so much pain she would have taken more time appreciating the view, but she needed to go get some Tylenol. As she walked into the kitchen she heard the door open and flinched when it closed.

"Morning guys, hot shot wake up." She heard Brooke say and from what she could tell Nathan groaned. "Tutor-girl where are you?" She yelled.

"Brooke, go away." Nathan mumbled and threw a pillow at her.

"Brooke, I am in the kitchen. Can you please stop talking so loud?" Haley said, sighing.

"Haley James, did you drink too much last night?" Brooke asked.

"If you have to ask, I think you already know your answer." Haley mumbled. "You drank just as much as me, how are you not hung over? Even Nathan is hung over." She said, pointing at Nathan who was still face down he had just moved up to the couch and put a pillow over his head.

"No, I'm not. You guys are just bugging me while I'm trying to sleep." He said, annoyed. He then got up and walked over to them, starting some coffee.

"Whatever," Brooke said, waving her hand, "_I_ have built up a tolerance to alcohol over the years and you still have not. As much as I love you Hales, drinking is not one of your strong points."

"Yeah, well, is there a reason that you decided to grace us with your presence this morning Brookie?"

"No, just wanted to check up on you. See how you were doing?"

"Besides my hang over, and not remembering much from last night, I am fine. I'm just going to go take a quick shower." Haley said and turned to walk the other direction.

"Um, Hales, what's on your back?" Brooke asked.

"What are you talking about?"

Brooke walked over to her and pulled the bottom of her shirt up, revealing a small tattoo in the center of her lower back. Just then Lucas walked in.

"Nice tramp stamp Hales." He said and walked past before realizing what he just saw. He quickly backed up and pulled Nathan with him. "Is that….?"

"My fake jersey number?" Nathan asked. "Hales, did you get a tattoo of my undercover jersey number?"

"What? That is ridiculous! Why would I do that?" Haley shrieked.

"I mean don't get me wrong, that's kinda hot, but why did you do it?" Nathan said.

"I don't know, I was drunk! We need to go over everything that happened last night. Someone get Jake and Peyton here now." She said, pacing.

"One second." Nathan said and walked to Haley's room. Two minutes later he walked out with Peyton and Jake following him.

"You guys were in my room? Please tell me that you are going to wash the sheets." Haley said and they just nodded.

"What is this all about?" Jake asked.

Haley turned around and lifted her shirt up, exposing the '23' on her back.

"Oh, nice tramp stamp." He said and smiled.

"That's what I said." Luke laughed and high fived him.

"Alright, it turned out. Glad to see that Hales. You were so afraid that it would look terrible." Peyton said.

"How did you know that?" Haley asked.

"I was there with you." Peyton shrugged.

"Wait you were there? Ok, I am going to need information as to why I did this."

"Well you really wanted a tattoo."

"Details, Peyton, I need details."

"Ok, but we are going to have to start from the beginning."

"Good, don't leave anything out."

"As you wish."

!

10 hours earlier

Haley and Nathan sat on her couch, watching an old episode of "Bones", after they got home from the party. Booth and Brennan had just solved the case and we having a drink to celebrate.

"_That_ is what we were supposed to do tonight. We were supposed to catch the guy and then go out for a drink. We should be toasting his arrest, not sitting here watching some fake crime fighters do it." Nathan complained.

"You're right." Haley said and got up.

"Damn right, I'm right. Where are you going?" He asked.

"I am going to get some alcohol from my kitchen." Haley responded and walked back into the room carrying several bottles. "We are going to toast to eventually catching him."

"Why would we do that?" He smirked.

"For two reasons. One so that we have hope and the other because it will help us drown our sorrows." She answered and handed him a beer while grabbing one for herself. "Next time." She said and clicked their bottles before taking a large drink out of her bottle.

"Next time." He muttered before drinking from his own bottle.

"Hey party people." Brooke said, walking through the door followed by Luke, Jake, and Peyton. "Oh, why are we drinking?"

"Hope." Both Haley and Nathan responded.

"Good enough for me." She said and grabbed a bottle of her own.

"So what was going on between you two in the alley earlier?" Jake asked, taking a seat and pulling Peyton down on his lap.

"What do you mean?" Nathan asked.

"Oh, I don't know. You two just seemed to be taking the whole 'undercover' thing a little too personally." He replied.

"I can see where you would get that idea, I mean that was a pretty intense make out session, but" Haley started but was cut off.

"Make out session? I was talking about the comforting words and flirting that Luke and I walked in on." Jake said.

Haley immediately turned bright red and Nathan smirked. "Oh, woops." She said.

"What make out session?" Brooke asked.

"It was part of our cover." Haley explained. "We needed a reason to be in the alley."

"Sure you did." Brooke winked.

"What can I say, my girlfriend can't keep her hands off of me." Nathan smirked and wrapped his arm around Haley's shoulder's.

Haley scoffed. "Excuse me, do I need to bring up your wandering hands again?"

"Please do." Brooke said. They both turned and looked at her.

"Anyway, Nathan's joking aside, it was strictly professional."

"Yeah, the oldest profession." Luke said.

"Lucas, did you just call me a prostitute?" Haley asked, eyebrows raised.

"Dude, not cool." Jake said.

"Sorry Hales." He said and she just shook her head.

"Whatever, the point is that we were in complete control the whole time. We knew what was going on around us." Haley explained.

"She's right, and if we didn't go out there to 'make out' we could have had another murder on our hands tonight." Nathan defended. "So, how about we stop talking about this and start drowning the pain." He passed out a round of shots. "To a night of forgetting about this case." He said and they all drank.

They continued to drink like that for quite some time. There was singing, dancing, eating, talking, and some making out from Brooke and Lucas and Jake and Peyton, in Haley's apartment that night. After a few hours Brooke and Lucas went back over to her apartment. Jake and Peyton decided that they were too drunk to drive home so they were just going to crash at Haley's. When Haley and Nathan were deep in conversation, Jake and Peyton quickly escaped to Haley's room.

"I am having sooooo much fun right now." Haley said. "Do you know how…..awesome you are, boss?" She asked. He had switched to water a while ago and was sobering up quickly. She on the other hand did not. He shook his head and chuckled. "You know what? I like calling you boss."

"I've noticed." He laughed.

"Do you think we are going to find the, the, um 'party crasher' soon?"

"I hope so."

She sighed. "Yeah me too."

He sensed a little disappointment in her tone. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She shook her head. "It's just, when we find him we won't be undercover anymore. I am going to miss my boyfriend."

"Oh. Want to know a secret?" He asked and she nodded. "I am going to miss my girlfriend too." She smiled at him and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I'm going to get something to eat. Do you want anything?" He asked, standing up.

"No, that's ok. I am just going to go get some clothes to change into." She answered and he nodded before walking to the kitchen. She walked back to her room and saw Peyton asleep on her bed. Trying not to wake up Jake, she shook Peyton. It took a few tries, but eventually Peyton opened her eyes.

"Haley? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I need you to come do something with me. Put some clothes on, let's go." Haley said and pulled on a sweatshirt.

They quickly left the apartment, going unnoticed by Nathan, and headed for Haley's car.

"Hales, I'm driving." Peyton said and Haley didn't argue. She knew that she was in no condition to drive. "So, tell me where we are going."

"A tattoo parlor." Haley said.

"What?"

"A tattoo parlor." She repeated.

"I heard what you said. Why are we going to a tattoo parlor?"

"Because I want a tattoo."

"Ok, well is this normal Haley James talking, or drunk Haley James?"

"Both, I have always wanted to get a tattoo, but I never knew what I wanted and now I know. Besides, I was always too afraid to get one, not anymore."

"Are you sure about this?"

"I'm positive."

"Ok, let's get you inked." Peyton said and parked in front of the cleanest looking tattoo parlor she could find. "What are you going to get?"

"His jersey number."

"Whose jersey number?"

"Nathan's, or well fake Nathan's, Zak's." Haley answered.

"Oh, why?"

"I don't really know, it just feels right." Haley answered and walked up to the artist. "Hi, I would like a tattoo please."

"Ok, what do you want done?" He asked, looking at the small girl in front of him.

"I want the number 23."

"I can do that. Where do you want it?"

"Um, my lower back." She answered and smiled.

"A tramp stamp, really Hales?" Peyton asked.

Haley just glared at her.

"What, I'm just saying, real classy."

"Well stop 'just saying' and get over here blondie." Haley said and motioned for Peyton to come sit next to her.

"You know that this is going to hurt, right?" The large man with the needle asked.

"Yeah, I can handle the pain." She answered. "Oh, and can you make sure it looks like a jersey number, in blue and black?"

"Sure thing." He responded and began working right away. It only took about 15 minutes before he finished.

"Thank you so much." Haley said and paid him before they left.

"So, how does it feel?" Peyton asked.

"It actually doesn't hurt that much. I mean yeah, it does a little but not as much as I thought it would."

"That's good. I'm glad you got what you wanted Hales."

"Me too. I just hope it turned out the way I wanted it too."

!

"And then we arrived back at the apartment. We walked in and Nathan had made a little bed up for himself on the floor, obviously being a gentleman and letting you have the couch. You went and changed into some pajamas and came out here to sleep. And here we are."

"Wow, I can't believe I got a tattoo." Haley said.

"Yeah, me either. I never would have guessed." Luke said. "I didn't know you had such a wild side."

"I didn't know that your wild side would result in this." Nathan said, his eyes permanently glued to the '23.'

"I'm sorry. I guess I just wanted to always remember Zak, and I felt that when this is over we would just forget about it and move on."

"I don't know Hales, we've had some memorable moments as Zak and Brittany, you and I." Nathan said.

"I guess you're right." She smiled.

"C'mon Hales, we'll always have the alley." He smirked and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

She laughed and shrugged his arm off. "Whatever, we're not done with the case yet. Let's get back to work. What's next?"

"Just continuing off of what we have. Jake is running all the numbers that you got off of Chealsea's phone and we are checking for a security tape from the alley. Maybe we'll get lucky and find something." Luke said.

"Let's hope so. In that case, I am going take my shower." Haley said and began walking to the bathroom, with her shirt still raised up on her back.

Nathan found himself staring directly at the small '23' and then letting his eyes travel lower. His eyebrows were raised and his mouth was slightly open as he was appreciating the view and flashing back to the night before when he heard Jake laugh next to him.

"You are so far gone." He laughed again.

"Tell me about it." Nathan said and shook his head, turning around when Haley disappeared into the bathroom.

* * *

**Let me know what you think :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here is the next chapter. Thank you everyon who has been reading and reviewing and all that jazz. I really appreciate it. I don't have much to say about this chapter, so I will leave you all with the usual. Enjoy :)**

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"_Nate? Are you out here?" Haley asked as she walked out into the alley at yet another party. "Boss? C'mon, quit messing around I got your text telling me to meet you out here." She said and walked further down the alleyway._

"_This is ridiculous. Why would he ask me to come out here if he wasn't going to show up?" She asked herself and was about to turn around and walk back into the building when she saw him laying on the ground in a dark corner. "Nathan!" She yelled and rushed over to him. _

_He was unconscious and seemed to have a large cut across his forehead. _

"_Boss, you need to wake up." She said, gently slapping his face in an attempt to pull him back to consciousness. "We can't solve this case without you, I need my boyfriend, remember?" Tears began to fill her eyes and she didn't even try to keep them away. "Nathan, wake up, please?"_

"_Hales?" She heard him ask quietly._

"_Yeah? Nate I am right here." She said and grabbed his hand._

_He turned to look at her and his eyes immediately went wide._

"_Nathan? Are you ok? What's wrong?" She asked, concern evident in her voice. Just then she felt someone grab her and pull her up, placing a knife at her throat. She made eye contact with Nathan trying to get him to go for her attacker. He just shook his head._

"_Ok, let's just calm down here. There is no need to hurt her. Just put the knife down." Nathan said._

"_Why would I do that? You two have been lying to me, to everyone. Why shouldn't I kill the two of you right here right now? You know that I can do it." Her attacker said. She recognized the voice but couldn't quite place it._

"_Well, we could work out some sort of deal, as long as Haley doesn't get hurt." Nathan said, stepping closer._

"_Oh yeah, what would my deal be? Community service? You realize that I killed four girls right? Oh, and in case you forgot I assaulted an officer about 20 minutes ago. There will be no deal. If you want the girl, you are going to have to get her from me."_

_Nathan kept his cool composure, but Haley could see the panic in his eyes. She locked eyes with him and mouthed "get this son of a bitch." Nathan gave her a small, almost unnoticeable smile. _

"_What are you smiling about? You know what, I am done dealing with this hostage situation. This is going to be between you and me. I am getting rid of the girl." He said and pressed the knife further into Haley's neck._

"_NO!" Nathan yelled and lunged forward._

Haley jumped up, waking herself from her terrible nightmare. She looked over at the clock and realized that it was almost 3:00 in the morning. She wiped the sweat off of her forehead and decided to go get a glass of water. As she walked to the kitchen she saw Nathan asleep on the pullout bed. He was, once again, sleeping shirtless and that didn't help calm her down at all. She stared as she passed him, and turned the kitchen light on, grabbing a water bottle from off of the table.

"Couldn't sleep?" She heard Nathan ask and turned around to see him standing in the doorway in all his bare-chested glory.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." She said, not meeting his gaze. "Did I wake you?"

"No, I couldn't really sleep either. This case is preventing me from getting much rest." He replied.

"Same." She replied, still avoiding looking over at him.

"Are you ok Hales?"

"Yeah," she lied. "Why would you ask that?"

"I don't know, you just seem really tense and you are avoiding looking at me. Did I do something?"

"No, you didn't do anything."

"Are you sure? Your actions don't really suggest that."

"Yeah, you didn't do anything, I promise. I just, I had this dream and it was so realistic."

"What was it about?"

"The case, we were so close to cracking it. I think that we actually did, but I can't know for sure."

He walked over to her and smiled at her as he took hold of her hand and lead her to sit on his pullout bed with him. "You can talk to me about it Hales, maybe we can figure something out from it."

"No, Nathan, that's ok. You don't need to listen to me talk about some stupid nightmare." She said and started to get up.

He grabbed her hand to keep her from walking away. "Haley, just tell me about your dream."

She looked at him for a minute before deciding that it was best not to argue.

"Ok, well we were at another party. You had texted me and told me to meet you in the alley."

"Why weren't we together?"

"I don't know, this is just where the dream started up. Anyway, I walk out into the alley and you aren't there so I call for you but you don't respond. I am about to walk back into the club when I see you passed out in a dark corner, so I rush over to you and do all that I can to get you to wake up. Eventually you do, but your eyes go wide and I freak out. I think something is wrong with you." She explained, looking away.

"Hey, nothing is wrong with me. I am right here." He said and grabbed her hand.

She nodded and smiled slightly before continuing with her recap. "Before you can explain why you did that, I feel someone grab me and pull me up. They have a knife held against my throat." She explained and unconsciously rubbed her neck. "I try to get you to take him out, but you just shake your head."

"I would never risk losing you like that. He had the upper hand in the situation. If I lunged he would have slit your throat. No way would I be the reason that happened." He said with pain clear in his eyes.

"You try to make a deal with him, but he refuses. He says that they would never give a deal to a serial killer. I swear I have heard that voice before Nathan, but I can't place it. I mean I am in no way saying that whoever was the killer in my nightmare is really the killer, but I would still like to know who it was." She said, clearly frustrated.

"Haley, it's fine. I am sure if you recognized the voice it will come to you. Don't stress over it right now, I will help you in any way that I can. What happened after that?"

"You get this panicked look in your eyes and I tell you to get the son of a bitch and you smile, kinda like you are right now. He notices and gets angry and tells you that he is going to get rid of me so that the two of you can sort things out. He presses the knife further into my throat, you lunge at him screaming 'no' and that is when I woke up."

"That is one intense dream Hales, I am sorry you had to go through that."

"It's fine, I just wish that it would have given me some actual evidence or proof maybe."

"Come here." He said and opened his arms up for her. She shook her head, but he insisted. "Haley, get over here and hug me. Everyone needs a good hug every once in a while and I have it on good authority that I give amazing hugs."

She smiled and gave in, leaning into his side and allowing him to wrap his arms around her. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Make me smile after I have had a really crappy experience."

"Oh, that. You didn't hear? I am just awesome."

"Awesome?"

"Yep, awesome. I am also adorable, amazing, funny, hot, and the list goes on and on."

"And it ends with cocky."

"Hey, say whatever you will, but all of these qualities got you to smile, didn't they?"

"Yeah, I guess so." She smiled again, actually she hadn't stopped.

"You know what I think? I think that you love all those qualities in me, especially my cockiness."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, I do. And you want to know what I love about you?"

"Throw it at me."

"Alright, well you look like this little, innocent, beautiful woman, yet you throw a mean right hook, say things like 'get the son of a bitch' and 'ass,' and you are the bravest person I know."

"Well those are just some of the amazing things that I do, you haven't seen anything yet." She winked.

"Well then I am in for a wild ride, aren't I?"

"Oh yeah, twists, turns, drops, flips, crazy fast speeds. Hold on tight or you'll get lost buddy." She smirked and he tightened his arms around her waist keeping her held to him. "You know, I think I should go back to my room and go to sleep." She said.

"But if you do that, then I won't be able to hold on tight." He explained and winked.

"Fine, I'll stay out here for a little while. Can we watch tv?"

"Yeah, sure, here's the remote." He said and leaned back against the back of the couch, pulling Haley to sit next to him.

They sat there quietly watching tv for about an hour when Haley turned to Nathan and found him staring back at her. "I feel like this is real." She whispered.

"What is?"

"This," she said pointing to the two of them, "us. I feel like this whole 'undercover' relationship isn't so fake after all."

"Yeah, I know."

"This isn't right Nathan."

"Why not? It feels pretty right to me." He said and put his hand on her cheek.

"But, you're my boss."

"Technically, but I don't pay you or anything. I am more of a supervisor."

"Yeah, but what if it causes problems?"

"If it causes problems we will deal with it then. For now, let's just live in the moment." He said and leaned forward. He lightly placed his lips over hers and for a second she didn't respond, but just as quickly she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed back. The speed of their lips increased as she began to play with his hair. He changed their positions so that she was lying down and he was hovering over her. They broke apart and made eye contact and just as he was about to move to kiss her again his alarm went off, bringing them back to reality.

"I guess we better get back to the real world." She said. He buried his face in her neck and groaned before rolling off of her. "I'm going to go take a shower and get ready for work." She said and started to get up. "You driving me today?"

"Yeah, I just need to go talk to Luke. He is going to see your 'boss' today and find out what kind of information he can find out."

"Ok, sounds good. Oh, and that reminds me, there is this banquet thing for THA this weekend and considering I am an 'employee' I need to be there and my cocky boyfriend needs to be by my side. It'll be a really good opportunity to investigate."

"Alright, we will get Jake and Luke there on detail somehow."

"Yeah, we'll plan it all later. Go talk to Luke, I'm going to get ready." She said and walked off.

He waited about 10 minutes before walking over to Brooke's apartment and just walking in. At this point, Brooke had given them all keys so that they can come and go as they please.

"Luke, get up, we have to talk." He yelled and sat down on the couch, waiting for him to walk out.

Luke came walking down the hall humming something. He sat down next to Nathan and continued to hum.

"What are you humming?" Nathan asked.

"I just had sex." Lucas replied.

"That's good for you, but I didn't really need to know that. Besides, that didn't answer my question."

"No, you know, 'I just had sex and it felt so good.'" He sang. "It's a song."

"Oh, I know it is. I just wanted to hear you sing it. You need to get ready. After I drop Haley off, I am coming back here. We will go over what is going to happen today and then we need to get some planning done for this weekend, we have a party to attend. See if Brooke can talk to Hales about that actually, it would give you a reason to be there." Nathan explained. "See you later buddy, maybe you'll get another 'best 30 seconds of your life.'" Nathan quoted the song and walked out the door.

He walked back into Haley's apartment and saw her walk from the bathroom to her room. He smiled and went to make some coffee. Once the coffee was done he poured it into two travel mugs and walked to Haley's room. He found her putting her shoes on.

"Hey, you ready to go?" He asked.

"Yeah, just give me two seconds." She smiled and walked over to her closet, pulled out a jacket and put it on. "Is that coffee?"

"Yeah, I figured you would need a bit of an energy boost." He smiled.

"You thought right. Thanks boss." She winked.

"You know? I like it when you call me boss. It's kinda hot."

"Oh really?"

"Oh yeah." He said and leaned in to kiss her. Just as his face got close enough, she pulled away and walked toward the door.

"Let's go, boss." She said, smirking and laughing. He just laughed and followed after her.

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**Let me know what you think! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone! I am so SORRY that it has taken me so long to update. I feel terrible, but life just got in the way. I had so much going on at the same time and adding writing to the pile would have made my life 10x more hectic and stressful than it already was. I hope that this chapter was worth the wait though...the idea for it had been going through my head for quite some time, I just couldn't get it exactly right in writing... I am finally happy with how it turned out though and I am excited to write more. I honestly don't know how much longer this story is going to be, but it is going to wrap up soon. I hate how short it is, but I don't want to stretch it out too long. Any way, I really appreciate all of you that are sticking with me through the long drought of no chapters...As always, here is the next chapter...Enjoy :)**

* * *

"Haley James?" Brooke asked as she walked into Haley's apartment.

"In here." Haley yelled back from the bathroom. She was putting the finishing touches on her make up for the banquet. Haley had managed to get an invite for 'her best friend visiting from out of town and her boyfriend,' Brooke and Lucas, so they were all going to arrive together.

"Wow, looking very cute there Hales. I like the dress."

"You should, you bought it for me for my birthday." Haley said and laughed. "You look pretty cute yourself best friend."

"I know, thanks." Brooke smiled. "You ready to go? Nate and Luke are next door watching a draft of some sort, so we just have to turn the tv off and they will be ready to go."

"Haha, yep, I am all ready to go Tigger." Haley said and they walked across the hall.

"Ok boys, enough of your sports. We have work to do." Brooke said and turned the tv off.

"Brooke, you do realize that you aren't actually working right? You are just coming along because you can get Luke in." Nathan said and Haley lightly hit his arm. 'Be nice,' she mouthed.

"Oh, whatever. I am helping, so just consider me a consultant or like a volunteer or something." Brooke replied and grabbed her purse. "Let's go."

They all laughed and followed after her. Haley slowed down and pulled Nathan back with her.

"So, with you 'visiting family' these last few days, I haven't really had the chance to talk to you." Haley said. Nathan had gone back to stay at his apartment for a few days to pick up some more clothes and go around watching some of Haley's 'co-workers' without being noticed.

"Oh yeah, and what do you want to talk about?" He smirked.

"Nothing you're thinking. Gee, keep your mind on the case boss."

"Sorry." He smiled and gave her his best innocent face.

"Anyway, about the case, these last few days at work I've been getting these little things on my desk when I walk away. First it was a flower, so I thought maybe you'd left something for me, you know being the doting boyfriend and all, but then I kept getting little notes and like candies. I haven't figured it out yet, but I am pretty sure it is relevant to the case."

"Ok, well I will keep an eye for anyone looking at you. Although I can't really watch myself, I know I will be looking at you."

"You're so cheesy." She laughed and lightly pushed him.

"You love it." He smirked and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Actually, I'm lactose intolerant. I do, however, know for a fact that Luke loves cheese. Maybe you can escort him to the banquet." Haley suggested.

"And deprive you of getting to spend the evening on my arm? I just couldn't do that to you."

"Oh, what a gentleman." She laughed and feigned swooning.

"You know it." He winked.

"Hey, lovebirds, quit messing around and get in the car." Lucas yelled and laughed at them.

Half an hour later they were standing outside the building, waiting to go inside.

"Ok, so if anyone needs help, I think we should 'caw'." Luke suggested.

"What?" Haley laughed.

"Caaaaaaw!" Luke emphasized.

They all laughed at him.

"Oh, honey, that is quite a thought but we have cell phones." Brooke said, patting his arm. "If we need to contact each other we can call or text."

"Yeah, I know and ear pieces work too." Nathan said.

"Excuse me for throwing a new idea out there. I mean we always use the ear pieces and the phones, why not change it up a bit?" Luke asked.

"And take a step back from technology?" Haley asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, sorry man, but that was the most ridiculous idea." Nathan said and stuck his hand out for Haley to take. "Shall we?" He asked and she gladly accepted.

"Lucas, stop pouting and go find Jake." Haley said as she and Nathan began to walk inside. "We'll see you guys later."

"You know, we didn't have to get rid of them, right?" Nathan asked.

"Oh, I know, I just wanted to get you alone for a little while. Besides, Lucas was going to be all broody for a while. Now, what do you say to getting me a drink?"

"Only if you go get us some seats." He smiled as she nodded her head and leaned up to kiss his cheek before turning in the opposite direction.

Nathan smiled and walked over to the bar.

"Hi, two waters please." He said and looked back at Haley while waiting for the drinks. She was talking to one of her "co-workers" and had this huge smile across her face. It was easy to tell that she was enjoying their company.

"Here are your waters, sir." The bartender said and pulled Nathan out of his Haley-trance. Nathan paid the man and took the waters. As he turned around he noticed that Haley wasn't with the same group of people. He looked around, but couldn't see her anywhere.

"Hey, does anyone see Haley?" Nathan asked into the earpieces.

"No, we don't see her." Luke responded.

"Us either. Where'd she go?" Jake asked.

"If I knew that then I wouldn't be asking you guys, would I?" Nathan said, frustrated. "It's fine, I'll find her." He said and began walking over to the group that she had previously been standing in. "Hey guys, do you know where Brittany went?" He asked.

"Oh, yeah, her mom called so she said she was going to go somewhere quiet to answer." One of her co-workers, he recognized her from the night at the Blue Moon, Suzie said.

"Thanks." Nathan replied and started to walk away before they could say anything else. He pulled his phone out and dialed her number, it went to voicemail immediately. "C'mon Hales, where are you?" He asked and shut his phone, continuing his search.

!

(Meanwhile, Haley is on the phone outside)

"Mom, I know that you are worried, but don't be. I know what I am doing and I have a great team that I am working with." Haley said sighing. Her parents found out that she is working this case and immediately called to express their concerns.

"Haley Bob you know that we love the fact that you are a police officer and that you are happy with your job. Not to forget I am jealous that you get to be around men in uniform all day, but we just want you to be safe. This case sounds extremely dangerous." Her mom said.

"Mom, I can promise you that Nathan would never let anything happen to me. Neither would any of the other members of my team... We protect each other."

"Oh, speaking of your boss, Brooke tells me that you two have gotten closer recently. Anything you want to tell your mother?"

"I'm sure I have no idea what she is talking about. He's my boss."

"Yeah, yeah. You know you're father started out as my boss too. He still is on occasion."

"Ok, mom, thanks for the over sharing."

"Well, I'm just saying."

"Alright, well that's nice. Mom, I love you I have to go though."

"Ok, I love you too Bob. I'll talk to you later."

Haley hung up her phone and turned to walk back into the building, but stopped when she saw someone standing there looking directly at her.

"Well, isn't that nice. Your last call was to your mom. At least you got to tell her you loved her."

"What do you mean, 'last call'?" Haley asked calmly.

"Oh, just that you won't be talking to anyone else for a long, long time. It's a shame too because your boyfriend is going crazy in there. He is running around looking for you, asking everyone if they have seen you. It's pretty funny actually."

"Oh, well I will just have to go back in there and let him know that everything is ok, won't I?" Haley said and began to slowly make her way toward the door to the building.

"Yeah, you know, I just don't see that happening."

"Oh, and why is that?"

"Well, I am not going to let you."

"And how are you going to stop me?" Haley asked, now walking closer to her nemesis.

"I have my ways."

"Bring it on, bitch." Haley said and blocked the punch coming from her attacker. With that she swung back managed to punch her square in the jaw. As Haley pulled back for her second hit, she felt an intense pain hit the back of her neck. It traveled through her whole body and within seconds she was unconscious.

!

Nathan had been looking throughout the whole room in an attempt to find Haley.

"She has to be here somewhere." He said to himself and turned to look out the window. Just as he did he saw two people in the distance that just seemed to be talking, but one of them looked just like Haley. As he looked closer he saw them begin to fight. He immediately jumped into action, sprinting to try and find a door that would lead him to where she was.

"Guys, Haley is outside, and she needs help. Let's go." Nathan said into the earpiece.

"We're on our way." Luke and Jake both said at the same time as they got up and tried to find an exit as well.

Nathan had a considerable head-start on them so he got outside first. As soon as he got out the doors he saw a large van pull away from where Haley had been standing. He pulled out his gun and began firing at the van, but it was too far away. He ran over and found Haley's phone on the ground.

"Damn it!" He yelled. Luke and Jake had just arrived and were looking concerned.

"What happened man?" Luke asked.

"She's gone. That is what happened." Nathan said, angrily.

"What do you mean she's gone?" Jake asked.

"I mean that they have her. I let her out of my sight for like two seconds and look what happened. Now she is gone. How did this happen? She is a police officer, she should have been able to take care of herself." Nathan ranted. He began pacing and trying to think of a way to get Haley back.

Jake and Luke were looking at him, realizing that there was nothing that they could do to make him feel better.

"I am going to call Brooke and let her know that she and Peyton need to get out here. We need all the extra hands that we can get." Luke said and dialed the phone.

"Hey is everything alright?" Brooke asked, worried.

"Caw." Luke said, unaware that Nathan had stopped pacing and was now looking directly at him.

"On our way out." Brooke said as she and Peyton got up to head outside.

Nathan was now walking toward Lucas with a very focused look in his eyes. Just as Luke was about to say something, Nathan punched him, knocking him to the ground.

Luke just rubbed his jaw, where there was going to be an obvious bruise in a little while. "Damn Nate, what was that for?"

Nathan glared at him and said, "caw."

"It really wasn't the right time to joke, man." Jake said, helping him up.

"Yeah, I guess." Luke responded, still holding his jaw.

Brooke and Peyton had just arrived and looked extremely worried.

"Where's Hales?" Brooke asked.

"You two stay here and call 911, let them know that one of their own has been abducted. Have them look for evidence over here: tire marks, hair, fabric, jewelry, anything." Nathan told them and turned to look at Jake and Luke. "You guys go find out if there is a security camera in there and get all the tapes." He said and started to walk back toward the building.

"Where are you going Nate?"

"I am going to find the person who took Haley." He said, with the most determined, focused, frightening look on his face that Jake or Luke had ever seen.

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**Let me know what you think!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys, so here is the next chapter...It is a bit of a cliffhanger (sorry), but I really had fun writing it and I hope that you have fun reading it. You get to find out who the "Party Crasher" is by the way, I hope you've been paying attention throughout the story...If not you may have to go back and re-read. Anyway, as always...Enjoy :)**

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Haley woke up in the back of a van. She looked around and saw that it was dark and there seemed to only be two people inside. Immediately she began forming a plan to get out of there. As she lay there, she tried to get a look at who was taking her. She still couldn't believe who the party crasher ended up being. They were looking for the completely wrong person the whole time, she just hoped that Nathan, Luke, and Jake would figure it out very soon. Before she could think about it any further the van came to a stop.

Haley went back to pretending to be asleep. The door opened and she felt someone grab her ankle. As they began to drag her out, she began to fight back. Her opponent was much larger, but she had the element of surprise on her side.

She quickly used the leg that they didn't have a hold on to wrap around their arm and make it bend backwards. They yelped out in pain and she took advantage of that. They had dropped her ankle so she stood up and jumped out of the van, quickly punching their stomach and following it with another punch to their face. She then kicked them in the stomach causing them to stumble back and fall down. They were out for the count and Haley felt a rush of excitement and adrenaline coursing through her veins.

Just as she was about to run out of there she felt another sharp pain in her neck and once again, everything went black.

!

"I need to see the list of everyone who came here today." Nathan said as he approached the check-in desk for the reception.

"I'm sorry sir, but that isn't information that we can just give out. It creates a safety risk for everyone inside." The lady responded with a fake smile on her face. It was easy to see that Nathan was upset and she was not in the mood to deal with another angry person.

"Oh, well, in that case. I don't care. I need to see that list because someone's safety _has_ been risked. So find one and give it to me now. We also need to shut this place down. No one gets in, no one gets out." Nathan replied, getting more upset by the second.

"Listen sir, I don't know who you think you are, but you can't just come in here and make demands while you are clearly upset." She said, annoyed that he just wouldn't give up. "If you don't stop, I am going to have to call the police."

At that, Nathan pulled his badge out and put it in front of her face. "I'll be needing that list now."

She sat there, shocked and nodded her head. "It will take me a few minutes to get a new one printed."

"Fine, I'll be back." He said and marched off to complete his next task.

He quickly made his way to the front of the room and picked up a microphone. "Excuse me everyone, I need your attention." He said and waited for everyone to turn toward him and stop talking. "There has been an incident today that needs the attention of the police so you will all need to stay here until given the all clear. Also, we have a list of everyone who arrived here today so we will be coming around to check with you about who you are. ID's are necessary so you better have one. We appreciate your co-operation." Nathan announced and made his way over to the back of the room where Luke and Jake were standing. "Anything?"

"Unfortunately , their faces were covered the whole time. Looks like they knew where all the cameras were. We did get a good shot of the van driving away though, so we can pull the license plates and get those run." Jake said.

"Good, get started on that. I'm going to go check with Brooke and Peyton." Nathan said and started walking back towards the check-in desk. "Do you have the list yet?" He asked the lady.

She nodded and handed it to him.

"Thank you." He said and walked away. He realized that Brooke and Peyton were still outside and that they wouldn't be able to get in. He walked over to the entrance which was being guarded and showed them his badge. They opened the door for him and he quickly made his way over to the girls who were pacing back and forth as the forensics team worked.

"Nate, how is it going? Did you find anyone yet? Did she call? What is going on?" Brooke asked, running up to him.

"Brooke, one question at a time." Nathan replied. "No, she didn't call, but we are working on finding her."

"I'm sorry, I just- I can't lose her, she's my best friend." Brooke said, tears overflowing from her eyes.

"Brooke," Nathan said, grabbing onto her shoulders and making her look at him. "you are not going to lose her, none of us are. I am not going to let that happen." He said, more to himself than to her.

"Thank you." She said and hugged him before pulling back and wiping her eyes. She took a deep breath to steady herself. "Ok, um, the forensics team has been here for about 10 minutes and they haven't really told us anything."

"That's fine, I'll go talk to them." He said and walked away.

"Hey," Nathan said as he walked up to one of the team members, "have you found anything yet?"

"We found a few hairs, a little blood, and a lot of tire marks. We will continue to sweep the area, but for now we will need to test everything. Sorry Detective, but there is no guaranteeing that the hairs will belong to your perp."

"That's ok, just let me know as soon as you find anything." Nathan said and walked back over to Brooke and Peyton. "Let's go." He said and grabbed both of their arms, pulling them with him.

"Where are we going?" Peyton asked.

"Back inside, you guys can't get in without me." He answered and let go of their arms, now just leading the way back to the building. "They're with me." He told the policemen guarding the doors. They nodded and let the three of them inside.

"Hey guys, did they find anything?" Luke asked as he and Jake approached them.

"A few things but they need to check for results. We will know whatever they find when they find it." Nathan answered. "For now, we need to split up and go talk to each person here. Find out who they are and write their names down. Check IDs to make sure they are who they say they are. We need to find out who is no longer here. When we are done we will meet up and figure all this out." Nathan said and they each headed off to a different section of the room.

!

"God, could you stop doing that." Haley groaned as she woke up, tied to a chair. "It is extremely painful and very annoying. What are you using anyway, a cow prong?"

"A stun gun actually and we wouldn't have to do it if you would stop fighting back."

"Oh, I am so sorry. I must seem completely rude. Would you prefer that I just sit back and wait for you to kill me?" Haley asked sarcastically.

"You're funny, but no. I do enjoy the fight. You make it challenging. All the others just gave up too easily."

"Well when you sneak up on people their defenses aren't exactly up."

"I suppose you are right."

"Oh goodie, what do I win?" Haley asked with fake enthusiasm.

"Well, I could kill you now, get it over with."

"Pass. What else you got?"

"There's a box of half eaten Girl Scout Cookies in the van, but I already called dibs. So…."

"How about you tell me why you are doing this."

"I could, but then I would have to kill you. Oh, wait, I'm already going to do that. I suppose I could, yes."

"Good, let's hear it."

"This all started about four months ago. You see, I was the favorite around the office. I brought in cookies on Mondays and I was nice to everyone. They all loved me and I loved it."

"You mean them? You loved them?" Haley asked.

"Eh, not really. I loved _it,_ the attention. I was homeschooled my whole childhood so I never got out much and I didn't get much attention from others. So, when I finally started to get it, I loved it. People said hi to me, they waved and smiled, and I got invited to all kinds of events. I had never really had friends so this was new to me. I did all that I could to make sure that the attention stayed on me, but then _Kate _showed up. She was smart and pretty and friendly and people began to love her more than me. I couldn't have that, could I? I had a really good thing going for me and I wasn't about to let her steal what was mine. So I took care of it the best way I knew how. I even threw a work wake for her. People were able to grieve, thanks to me. And, it was all good for a while, but then Rachel came and so did Jackie and they both tried to steal the limelight. You know what happened next. I thought it was all done and that I wouldn't have to kill anyone else, but then you showed up and not only did everyone love you, but you were also snooping around. You see, _Haley_, I am not going to jail for this."

"Oh, really? And how are you going to avoid going to prison, Suzie?" Haley asked.

"I am going to kill you and leave town. I think I am going to start over somewhere else where everyone can love me again."

"You know, I knew from the first day that something was off with you. No one is that happy and friendly all the time." Haley said. "Besides, you won't get away with this. My team will catch you. You don't stand a chance."

"We'll see about that." She said and looked down at her watch. "Oh, would you look at that, it is time for you to die."

"Before that happens, can you answer one question?" Haley asked.

"Alright, why not?"

"Who was the big guy you had working with you?"

"Oh, he was no one, just a henchman I hired to make things easier on me."

"Huh, well next time you hire a henchman, make him stronger. It didn't take much for me to knock him out."

"I'll keep that in mind. Now, where were we?" Suzie asked and started coming at Haley with a knife. "Should I do this the same way that I did the others? You know, I think I will. There is just something so satisfying about slicing someone's neck."

"Good to know." Haley said.

Suzie came up next to her and placed the edge of the knife on the side of Haley's neck. "You really want those to be your last words? How would that boyfriend of yours feel if he found out that you didn't say anything that related to him?" Haley just glared at her. "So, what's it going to be? Are you going to say something profound?"

"Suck it, bitch." Haley said and head-butted her.

Suzie groaned and grabbed Haley's hair, pulling her head back. "Just for that, I am going to kill you now." She said and raised her knife up above her head.

**To Be Continued...**

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**Well, what did you think? Let me know :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Ok, so it's shorter than usual, but it is my favorite chapter so far. I just love Nathan in it and that his thought are out there. It's weird, but I prefer writing with a guy as the main character...I don't know why, I just do. Anyway, the story is beginning to wrap itself up and I hope that you are all enjoying where it is going and where it has gone as much as I have.**

**Oh, and also I have been reading a lot of amazing books lately and I stumbled across this book "The Body Finder" by Kimberly Derting and it quickly became one of my all time favorites. I highly recommend it, so if you are looking for something new and fun to read, check it out. There is also a sequel and will be up to four books in the series eventually (I did my homework haha). **

**I hope you all love the chapter and have an amazing day! As always, **

**Enjoy :)**

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_**20 Minutes Earlier**_

"I know who it is." Nathan said as he suddenly lifted his head up. The five of them had been scouring the papers which informed them who was still in the building. "I knew no one was that friendly and nice all the time."

"Nate, who are you talking about?" Brooke asked.

"We have to go, she's got Haley." Nathan said and started walking away, not even waiting to see if they were behind him.

"Hold up there Nate." Lucas said, trying to get Nathan to explain some things. "Who has Haley and where are we going? Last time I checked we had absolutely no idea where the white van went."

"Suzie has Haley and we are going to go get her back. I'd thought something was off with this girl before so I looked into her background. Turns out her parents own this warehouse down on the docks. That is where we are going."

"How do you know that's where they are?" Luke asked.

"Sounds kind of creepy to me." Jake said.

"I just know. Now are you going to keep asking questions or are we going to go get Haley?"

Everyone knew better than to answer and just got in their cars. Nathan took off down the road, running every stop sign and red light, swerving between cars that got in his way. The way he was driving he would have given Paul Walker a run for his money.

Not even five minutes later he had crossed town and made it to the docks. He, Luke, and Jake put on their vests, armed themselves and headed for the correct warehouse while Brooke and Peyton waited for backup.

"Ok, we know that she's in there, but we need a quick plan. I am going around back. Lucas, there is a stairway on the side of the building, go up there take a vantage point from the upper level. If you have a shot, take it. Jake, you go in the front." Nathan looked at each of them and they nodded at him. "Let's go get our girl." He said and stealthily moved around toward the back of the building.

As he reached the back he saw a big man, with a black eye, pacing and guarding the door. He began to move, even quieter, toward the door and as soon as the guy turned to face him, Nathan took the top of his gun and whacked the guy across the face with it. The guy was out for the count, so Nathan quickly dragged him out of the way.

He reached the door and went inside, hiding behind large cases of whatever they stored here. He began to move around so that he could find a place where he could see Haley. He could hear her voice and it was guiding him but he couldn't see her yet. That is all he needed, to see her face, and then everything would be ok. He would get her out of this horrible situation and she would be ok. As soon as he saw that she wasn't injured he would be able to calmly take care of the situation. As soothing as her voice was, it just wasn't working for him right now.

"_Oh really? And how are you going to avoid going to prison Suzie?"_ He heard Haley ask.

_Yeah, Suzie, how are you going to avoid prison?_ Nathan asked in his head. He could tell he was getting closer to them because their voices were getting louder. He just hoped that Jake and Lucas were already in position. He took a few more steps around some large box and that is when he saw her, sitting down and tied up while being circled by a dangerous girl with a knife and yet she looked calm.

"_You know, I knew from the first day that something was off with you. No one is that happy and friendly all the time." Haley said. _

_That's what I said!_ Nathan thought, all the while keeping his eyes on Haley. Then, something amazing happened, she looked over toward him and their eyes locked. Even if it was only for a few seconds, the fact that they had made eye contact and she knew he was there made all the difference. He felt his serious, worried face drifting away and begin to be replaced with his confident smirk.

"_Besides, you won't get away with this. My team will catch you. You don't stand a chance."_

As soon as those words left Haley's mouth he knew that they had to wait for her signal. He looked up and saw Lucas crouched down on the upper level, his gun ready to go. Lucas saw him and nodded, understanding that they were waiting for the signal. Nathan knew Jake understood too. The only problem was that they had to wait now and that was never something that Nathan was very good at. When there was something that he wanted he did what he could to get it, then and there. Right now, he wanted Haley to be safe and out of striking reach of that psycho.

He sat there for a few minutes, watching and waiting for something, anything that would be Haley's signal. Finally it came. As Nathan heard Haley's _"Suck it, bitch."_ He knew that was it. He looked up to Lucas and signaled that he was going in.

As he took those quick, quiet steps around the remainder of the case blocking him from Suzie's view, he felt his heart rate speeding up. This was one of the things he loved about being a cop, the adrenaline rush. Every time he was about to catch a robber or a murderer he felt this excitement grow inside of him, knowing that he was doing the right thing, that he was helping people. But now, not only was he helping all those that could have fallen victim to Suzie, he was avenging those that had and he was saving Haley, and that seemed to amplify his adrenaline filled heart rate even more. He rounded the corner of the case and saw Suzie with the knife raised up above Haley, about to plunge and he what he did next came without a second thought. In less than a second he had raised his gun up and fired, filling the warehouse with the echoes of the gun shot and hitting Suzie directly in the back. She turned her head and blood was dripping from her mouth. Nathan fired a second time and she was down. Immediately, he rushed over to Haley and began untying her.

They never lost eye contact and as soon as her hands were free, Haley wrapped her arms around Nathan's neck pulling him as close to her as she could. They stayed like that for what seemed like forever. With their eyes closed, their arms holding onto each other like if they let go one of them would disappear, and not moving from their positions. They didn't notice any of the movement around them.

Lucas and Jake had also rushed over as soon as the second shot was fired. Jake immediately checked for a pulse on Suzie, but didn't find one. Lucas went to go get Peyton and Brooke while Jake filled the rest of the police that had shown up in on what happened. Soon, police officers were swarming the crime scene and caution-taping everything off while Jake, Peyton, Brooke, and Lucas stood and watched their two friends hold onto each other.

"Jeez, would you two give it a rest? I mean you are acting like one of you almost died or something." Peyton joked and Haley and Nathan finally pulled apart, realizing that it wasn't just the two of them.

"Yeah, give the rest of us a chance to hug tutor girl here." Brooke said and walked over trying to pull Haley away from Nathan, but failing as he refused to let her go completely. Haley sensed this and held up a finger to Brooke, telling her to hold on. She led Nathan a few feet away so she could talk to him.

"Hey," she said, putting her hand on his cheek. "I'm fine. Go give your statement, I am going to go see everyone and then I am going to go get checked out."

"Fine," he said, pouting slightly. "Or, you could always stay here and I could check you out." He smirked.

"Oh god, already with the lines? I meant medically, boss."

His face turned serious again. "Good, we need to make sure that there is nothing wrong with you."

"Ok, so the sooner you let me go and you go give your statement the sooner I can go get a full medical check-up." She said and leaned up on her tip-toes to hug him one more time.

He turned his head into her hair and held her closer. "I am so glad you're safe." He whispered.

"Thank you for saving me." She whispered back and kissed his cheek before walking over to where everyone else was waiting to see her.

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**Let me know what you think :) **

**Once again, sorry about the length...I was going to make it longer but then I realized that I wouldn't have been as happy with the quality of the chapter.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Well, here it is...the last chapter. I hope that this rounds everything out for you...This is personally my favorite chapter I have ever written for any story. So, I have high expectations for what you guys think. I really hope that you feel it ends the story well in a way that shows they still have some where to go but not that I am cheating you guys out of some awesome scenes. I really enjoyed writing this story and getting great reviews and reactions out of all of you. **

**Thank you to all the amazing readers who stuck with this story through my long hiatus and continued to love it as much as I did. I really appreciate you guys! Please let me know what you think of this chapter.**

**As always, and for the last time with this story...Enjoy :)**

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_The dictionary defines the word couple as "two items of the same kind; pair."See, my view differs from that a little. There are so many ways to describe "couple" but hardly ever would I say that the two things need to be the same. _

_When I hear the word couple, I think of two people braving the world together, side by side, regardless of their similarities and/or differences. I see two people who love each other with their whole hearts and give their souls to each other unconditionally…people who will fight to be together and keep each other safe…_

As Haley lay there, still, hooked up to machines, Nathan couldn't help the anxious feelings pulsing through him. He was always credited as being the tough one, the guy who didn't show weakness or emotion but was strong through any situation. This was part of the reason he became a cop, he knew he could protect others because he _was_ strong being the key word here.

Right after Haley went over to get checked out by the paramedics they told her that she would need to go to the hospital for further testing. Nathan couldn't hear all that they were saying, but he saw them put Haley in the ambulance and her smile as she tried to reassure him that she was ok. He got to the hospital as soon as he could and now, here he was waiting for news from someone, anyone.

"Would you stop thinking so loud? You are keeping me from my beauty sleep and after everything that happened I need it." Haley said without opening her eyes.

Nathan immediately reacted with a smile so big it took over his whole face. "I won't argue with that." He laughed.

"What? That was not supposed to be your response. You were _supposed _to say 'No, you look just as beautiful as ever. Maybe even more so'."

"First of all, when have I ever talked like that? Second, I don't want to lie to you." He said and took in her shocked face before moving even closer to her and pulling a chair up right next to her bed. "And, third, you do look beautiful…..you always do."

"Smooth recovery, boss."

"Well, you know I'm charming."

"Oh, is that what they call it?"

"Yep, now how long until we can get these wires off of you and I can take you home?"

"Now actually." Haley's doctor said as he walked into the room. "Haley, you suffered quite a bit over the last few hours. Luckily, there isn't much lasting damage. Although those burns on your neck are pretty serious and will need to be monitored, I don't see any reason you can't take care of that at home. Would you like me to show Nathan how to do that?"

"You two know each other?" Haley asked.

"You could say that." Nathan responded.

"Let's just say that Mr. Scott here isn't always careful in the field and I have had to put a few casts on, stitch up a few 'flesh wounds', and patch up some bullet wounds. Besides, if he hadn't been a patient in the past I would have met him as he frantically paced the hospital looking for news on you." Nathan looked down, avoiding eye contact with Haley, but still smirking.

As Dr. Newman showed Nathan how to treat Haley's neck, she couldn't help but to feel a sense of relief that Nathan was by her side. She could feel in this moment that what they had would be forever and he would always be there to protect her. She couldn't ask for anything more either.

"Well, you are all set Miss James. As much as I enjoy your company I hope that I don't have to see either of you for a while. Be safe out there." Dr. Newman said and shook each of their hands before walking out of the room.

"You ready to go?" Nathan asked and handed her a fresh pair of clothes that Brooke and Peyton had dropped off. They were currently back at Haley's apartment decorating for a little celebration.

"Yeah, just give me a minute." Haley said and went into the bathroom to change. When she walked back out, Nathan was sitting in the chair by the bed waiting. "I know that I said it earlier, but thank you. I tried to be tough, and I fought so hard, but deep down I was…..terrified." Haley was now standing right in front of him, her voice barely about a whisper. "I was so scared that you wouldn't figure it out in time, that she would kill me just like she did those other girls. I was scared that I would never get to have drinks with Jake and Peyton again, or laugh at one of Lucas' lame jokes, or spend time with my best friend. I already missed out on enough of my time with Brooke and I don't want to lose the chance to share any more memories with her. But, mostly, I was scared that I wouldn't get to see you again. That I wouldn't get the chance to stand here with you and tell you how I feel. Nathan, I-" And just like that, Nathan had stood up and interrupted her by sealing his lips over hers. This kiss was passionate and emotional and it showed, not told, each other how they felt.

Nathan looked down into her eyes and smiled. "Me too." He said and broke his smile so that he could kiss her again.

…_.People who are so perfect together that you know they will be together when they are hanging out in a retirement home…._

"Peyton?" Jake asked as he walked into Haley's apartment with what seemed like a whole Chinese restaurant.

"Yeah baby?" She asked, not moving as she hung up a brightly colored banner.

"Where do you want me to put the food?"

"Usually the kitchen is a good idea." She joked as she finished hanging and stood back to enjoy her handy work. 'Congratulations!' was written across the banner and she laughed a little bit at it.

"What's so funny?" Jake asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist and stood behind her.

"Nothing, I was just thinking that it's a shame that there weren't any banners that said 'Relax, the psycho is dead!' So I had to go with 'Congratulations!'"

"Huh, that is a shame. At least they had 'Congratulations!' and you weren't stuck with something like 'It's a boy!'" He laughed.

"Very true. Hey, be sure to point that out to everyone later." She smiled and turned around in his arms.

"Oh, you know I will." He smiled back and leaned down to capture her lips with his. She smiled into the kiss and was about to go back in for more when the door opened.

"C'mon guys, we are supposed to be setting up for the party, not christening her apartment." Brooke said as she walked past them. Lucas just laughed and shut the door behind him.

As Peyton went to help Brooke out with the food, Luke walked over and gave Jake a fist bump.

"Hey, ten bucks says Nathan told Haley how he felt and they are a couple now." Jake said.

"Make it twenty." Luke agreed. "He doesn't have the balls."

"Yeah, ok let's have him hear you say that."

"I'm in." Brooke yelled from the kitchen. "But, I say that Haley told him first. She tends to be pretty honest after traumatic events."

"You guys, c'mon, just let them be." Peyton said.

"So you're not in on this babe?" Jake asked.

"Oh no, I'm in. But if they ask, that is what I said. I'm with you though baby, I saw how he was acting while trying to find her. No way he wasn't going to tell her the first chance he got." Peyton replied.

"Alright, now that we have that out of the way would you two get your lazy asses off the sofa and do something. We need decorations and drinks and food. Oh and music. So do something." Brooke ordered.

"Relax pretty girl, Haley and Nate will just be happy to be home and done with this case that they wouldn't care if the room was pitch black." Luke said.

"Luke, I love you, but this is more to keep me busy ok. My _best friend_ was almost killed today and I need to do something so that I am not waiting outside for her to get home." Brooke explained, hugging herself to him.

"I understand, and guess what? I love you too, and I love that you are trying to make this perfect for everyone, but I want to make sure that you are ok. I mean this is a part of Haley's job and mine too. I just need to make sure that you will be able to handle stuff like this in the future if you need too." He said and looked down at her. Before he had a chance to say anything else, she had basically jumped up and kissed him. She broke away and nodded before leaning her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.

"That was really sweet." Peyton whispered to Jake as they stood trying to pick out the perfect CD to listen to.

"Yeah, they remind me of us. Except that we are much more awesome."

"Oh, really? And how do you figure that?"

"Well, you are my best friend. There is no one that I would rather spend time with. You know exactly what to say and when to say it. I know that I could hold you in my arms forever and it still wouldn't be long enough. Not to mention the way you kiss. I mean my god, babe, you drive me crazy." He laughed and bumped her hips lightly with his.

She turned and looked at him, smiling and seeing him smile his breath-taking smile right back at her. "Let's get married." She said.

"What?"

"Let's get married." She said again. "I mean it. Everything you just said, I feel that too. I love you and I always will. Not in an 'Oh I love this cookie' sort of way, but in a head over heels, first time you hear an amazing, life-changing song way. You are it for me." She smiled.

"You're serious?" He asked hopefully.

"Definitely."

"Awesome. Yes! Let's do it! Let's get married." He said and picked her up off the ground in a bone-crushing hug and spun around. When he set her back down, his lips were on hers immediately. She smiled into the kiss and bit his lower lip as he pulled away. He rested his forehead against hers and they stared into each other's eyes until Luke threw a pillow at them and reminded them to get to work.

_A couple implies love, friendship, and not only a past but a future as well. Now, I wouldn't exactly call my best friend and me a couple, but we have a past, we have a future, we are amazing friends, and we love each other. This adds yet another definition to the pile…..friendship….._

"They're here!" Brooke yelled as she sat at the window, watching as Nathan's car pulled up to the building. She was basically jumping up and down. Nathan had texted them about 10 minutes ago telling them that she was ok and they were on their way back. Ever since then, Brooke has been waiting by the window.

Now, she stood up and walked over to the door of the apartment, opened it, and walked out into the hall. She waited patiently for the elevator to open and as soon as they stepped out, Brooke was running straight at them. When she reached Haley, she all but tackled her as she squeezed her tightly.

"I was so worried about you buddy. How are you feeling?" Brooke asked and looked up as Nathan nodded to Haley and let her know that was going into the apartment, she smiled back.

"I'm ok now Tigger. I missed you though. I was so scared that I wouldn't get to see you again. By the way we need to have like a girls' weekend. We have already missed enough of each other's lives and I don't want to miss anything else. We need new memories to go along with our old ones." Haley said.

Brooke nodded. They were still holding onto each other. "Oh, and if you even think about being the hero again, I will come and kill you myself. Don't do that to me. I have no idea where I would be without my best friend. I need you here so I can tell you things that I can't tell anyone else."

"Oh, c'mon you have Luke and Peyton. If you really needed to talk to someone and I wasn't around you could always talk to them."

"Yeah, but you're tutor girl. No one even compares."

"Well, that's true." Haley said and brushed her hair back. "I am awesome." She laughed.

"Oh, by the way, I love Lucas."

"I know that, but does he?"

"Yeah, he does. He loves me too!" She said, doing a little happy dance.

"That's great! I told Nathan how I feel! Well, kind of, I started to but then he interrupted and instead of telling each other how we felt it was more like we showed each other."

"Haley! That's awesome! I guess we should go inside, huh?" Brooke asked and started to lead her in. When they got inside they gave each other one more quick hug before Haley went to go stand with Nathan and Brooke went to sit on Luke's lap. When Nathan wrapped his arm around Haley everyone's faces got excited but Brooke quickly put them out of their misery.

"Sorry guys, pay up. She told him first." She said and everyone groaned pulling out their money to give her.

"Ah, I love you guys." Haley sighed as she relaxed into Nathan's side.

"So, um, Peyton and I have some big news." Jake said and smiled as he looked down at Peyton. "We're going to get married." He said and both of their smiles grew even more.

"What? Guys, that's great!" Nathan said.

"Dibs on best man!" Luke shouted.

"Man, you suck. A best man at least congratulates the couple before calling dibs." Nathan said.

"Whatever. They know that I am happy for them." Luke said.

"Ok boys, chill. I am so happy for you two. Man this day is wrapping up rather nicely isn't it?" Haley said.

"It is, in fact, I have even more good news. Hales, you remember Marvin McFadden from high school? Well, before he joined the local news channel, he wrote sports stories for the Tree Hill Tribune and he put in a good word for me. You guys are now partying with the Tribune's newest columnist. I mean I am starting out small with just a romance piece once a week, as well as advice, but I am so happy. This is exactly what I want to be doing right now and who knows maybe I can help someone." She gushed.

"Wow, this day just keeps getting better and better. That is amazing Brooke. I am so proud of you and happy for you." Haley said and smiled.

"I couldn't have done it without any of you so thanks. You will all be featured heavily in my stories….inspiration." She winked.

_I have been around couples my whole life. Some were amazing, defy all odds couples. Some caught fire and sizzled out over time, and some crashed and burned within a week. But I know that when I see certain couples I know that they are going to make it. Whether they are friends or more than that they have this connection, a chemistry, that becomes visible even tangible in a way that even a blind person can see that nothing will tear them apart._

_Couples are funny that way. There are some specific things, like they always come in packs of two, they always feature some sort of love, and if they are worth fighting for they will make it. In all my years if I have learned one thing; people that are meant to be together always find their way in the end. _

* * *

**Ok, so incase you didn't realize it, the **_italics_** indicated Brooke's first article...all about her amazing friends.**

**I hope that you liked it...Let me know what your thoughts were! **

**Jessie :D**


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